Four people injured when driver flees from officers, hits tree and two vehicles in Portage: police

Saturday, June 27, 2026 5:56AM CT
PORTAGE, Ind. (WLS) -- Four people were injured when a driver fled from police and crashed into two vehicles and a tree in northwest Indiana on Friday afternoon.

Portage police said officers were dispatched to reports of threats and a protection order violation at a home on Fiesta Avenue earlier in the day, but they could not find the suspect.



Police were called back to the home around 3:45 p.m. As responding officers arrived, they saw the suspect vehicle traveling away from the home.

One officer checked on the complainant as another found the suspect vehicle, which was heading south on Willowcreek Road. That officer tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle's driver continued south before making a U-turn at the intersection with 700 North and speeding away.



Police said the driver vehicle continued north on Willowcreek Road and ran a red light at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6. The driver then struck an oncoming vehicle and lost control, traveling off of the road's northeast corner before hitting a tree and rolling several times.

The suspect vehicle's driver, a male of an unknown age, was ejected. The vehicle then struck another car in the parking lot and finally stopped, police said.

The suspect vehicle's driver was airlifted for treatment, and his passenger, a female of an unknown age, was hospitalized for minor injuries.

The driver of the vehicle hit at the intersection was treated at the scene and released.

A person inside the vehicle hit in the parking lot was hospitalized for minor injuries.



Police are investigating.
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