A police pursuit in Elkhart County ended with a deadly crash.

The pursuit began around 9:40 a.m. on Monday, June 15, when an Elkhart County Sheriff’s Officer tried to stop a vehicle on County Road 7 north of County Road 6 for an equipment violation.

While the Sheriff’s officer tried to stop the suspect vehicle, it accelerated to a high rate of speed, crossed a double yellow line and passed several vehicles.

As the vehicle approached DI Drive, it collided with a semi that was making a left turn.

A passenger in the suspect vehicle, a 40-year-old male, died at the scene.

The driver of the vehicle, Roger Rhodes, 53, was taken to Elkhart General Hospital with internal injuries.

Rhodes was found to have valid warrants for the following: escape from work release – no bond; theft; and operating after forfeiture of license. Rhodes was also found to be a habitual traffic violator for life.

The Elkhart County Homicide Unit was called to investigate the incident due to the death and an officer being involved in the incident.

The Indiana State Police was asked to perform the crash reconstruction portion of the investigation.