The release from jail of a Hammond man suspected in a fatal Highland bar stabbing sparked a massive manhunt Friday afternoon as law enforcement scrambled to arrest him and file charges in the death of a Whiting man.
The suspect was released because the 48-hour hold on the pending murder charge had expired, Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said.
Police from several agencies searched areas in Hammond, Hobart and other locations before the man surrendered at 5:15 p.m. to Highland police officers at the Lake Station Police Department, Robert Byrd, spokesman for the Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Task Force, said. The man’s family had arranged his surrender, Byrd said.
The suspect, 28, who has pending misdemeanors in Lake Station court for drunken driving, operating without ever receiving a license and resisting law enforcement, had a court date on Wednesday. Police investigators and prosecutors had intended that he would not be transported to appear on those charges following his arrest Monday as a person of interest in the Highland homicide, prompting a failure to appear warrant, said Byrd, South Shore transit chief. The idea was to keep him in custody while the murder investigation continued, with charges anticipated early next week, he said.
That plan was scuttled, however, when the 48-hour hold had expired and his attorney, Shane O’Donnell, filed the motion to recall the warrant, forcing Lake County police to release him from custody.
“I guess they should have worked faster to get their case filed,” Buncich said.
The suspect is expected to be charged Saturday with murder in the death of Josh Headley, 28, who died early Sunday after being stabbed in the chest during a disturbance at Franco’s Pizzeria and Bar, 2712 Condit St., Highland.
More than three years ago, Headley, a father of two, was seriously injured by a drunk driver in a crash in December 2011 in Hammond.
This week, Headley’s family members asked the Highland Town Council to close the bar. Council President Mark Herak said the town is working with police to make sure safety is increased.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter