Two Chesterton boys are being held in juvenile detention following a high-speed chase, with speeds in excess of 100 mph, that also injured a Portage police officer, a report said.
The juveniles, both 15, face a string of charges from felony resisting law enforcement to misdemeanor reckless driving and theft charges, police said.
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Police said they also were suspects in earlier alleged criminal incidents.
The chase began late Wednesday, when Portage officers were called to the Wal-Mart store, 6087 U.S. 6, for a theft in progress. As they arrived, officers observed two boys leaving through the garden center doors and yelled for them to stop.
However, the boys fled to a red Dodge Dakota truck and fled eastbound through the parking lot, according to a report. Officers gave chase, as the pair turned into the Arbors subdivision, near the R-Way Skate Center, the report said.
The driver “drove extremely recklessly through neighboring streets, curbs and grass” before Portage police tried to stop the vehicle by ramming it, the report said.
The maneuver failed, and the boys continued to race through the residential area before driving eastbound on U.S. 6, according to reports.
Police successfully rammed the truck, causing the truck to crash into a tree and a ditch near U.S. 6 and County Road 350 East, where the suspects then fled on foot, a report said.
Officers chased the pair and caught them nearby after the boys reportedly resisted arrest, with one officer sustaining a shoulder injury, the report said. The officer was treated and released from Portage Hospital.
Portage officers later learned the boys were involved in an earlier police chase that began in New Chicago and ended in Gary, where the boys escaped capture, police said.
According to reports, the boys allegedly stole the truck from a campground and were involved in home burglaries in Lake County, including at least one where multiple firearms were stolen, according to a report.
Police Chief Troy Williams said his officers’ work “was exceptional,” and he commended them for their “professionalism, restraint and calmness.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.