Indiana

Police chase ends in operating while intoxicated charge for South Bend man

A South Bend man was arrested over the weekend after he led police on a chase and got his vehicle stuck on train tracks in Mishawaka.

Patrick James Stouffer, 22, was arrested on preliminary charges of operating while intoxicated causing endangerment, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and criminal recklessness, according to a news release from the Indiana State Police.

An ISP trooper tried to pull over a vehicle shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, May 2, on Church Street north of Lincolnway West after it sped past the trooper, according to the news release.

Stouffer wouldn’t pull over and the officer chased the vehicle for about two miles before the vehicle drove through a yard near Marion and Broadway streets and then tried to drive west on top of train tracks.

The vehicle got stuck on the tracks and was soon surrounded by the trooper and Mishawaka Police Department officers, according to the news release. Stouffer was taken into custody and told police that he had been drinking at a bar and got nervous when he saw the police. He was also driving on a suspended learner’s permit, according to the news release.

Stouffer was taken to the St. Joseph County Jail, where he was still held Tuesday afternoon, May 5.

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