Man crashes minivan on Far South Side after Hammond police chase

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A driver being pursued by Hammond police crashed a minivan on the Far South Side Wednesday morning, Chicago police said.

The chase started in northwest Indiana at about 12:25 a.m. when police said they received an alert from a license plate reader system that a vehicle stolen in Portage had entered Hammond. Officers saw the silver Dodge Caravan leaving a gas station parking lot near 136th Street and Sheffield Avenue, police said.

Hammond police attempted to stop the vehicle and after the driver refused, police chased him at a moderate speed into Chicago. The minivan crashed into an embankment at 13000-block of South Indiana Avenue on the Far South Side and the driver fled the vehicle, police said.

Police from Hammond, Chicago and the CSX railroad searched the area for the driver, locating him underneath a log in the Cal Sag Channel.

The 20-year-old man was transported to a hospital in good condition. Hammond police identified him as Nathan Marshall from Hobart and say Marshall has active warrants for theft and failure to appear for court.