A Chicago woman was arrested after leading police on a chase that ended with a crash on I-94 in Porter County.
On Saturday, May 8, at approximately 1 p.m., troopers were working on I-94 near the 32 mile-marker. A trooper observed a black Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling at 83 mph in a 70 mph zone.
A traffic stop was initiated, and the vehicle initially pulled over near the 31 mile-marker. As the trooper stopped the vehicle, he observed that the driver never placed the vehicle in park and kept their foot on the brake. The trooper stood outside of his patrol car, giving verbal commands for the driver to put the vehicle in park and to lower the window. After giving the commands, the Jeep accelerated from the traffic stop at a high rate of speed. The trooper initiated a short pursuit but lost sight of the vehicle after a mile.
Another trooper had been observing traffic on I-94 and was parked in the turn-a-round at the 29.9 mile-marker. Hearing that a vehicle had fled, the trooper was attempting to retrieve stop-sticks from his trunk when the suspect vehicle was observed traveling at a high rate of speed along the inside shoulder. As the Jeep approached the parked police car, the driver of the Jeep swerved to the right to avoid the police car. The trooper who had been retrieving the stop-sticks from the trunk ran to take cover anticipating a crash with his parked police car. The Jeep then rear-ended a 2019 Kia Optima that was also traveling westbound.
After the initial impact, the driver of the Jeep continued to flee westbound at a reduced rate of speed. Troopers were able to catch up to the vehicle and continued to follow the Jeep until it eventually stopped at the 29 mile-marker due to the damage sustained in the initial crash. Officers then ordered the driver out of the vehicle, however the driver refused to exit the Jeep for several minutes. Eventually the driver complied and rolled down a window. After being ordered to exit the vehicle, the driver was then taken into custody without further incident. The driver, later identified as Nakia S. Smith, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, was transported to the Porter County Jail for processing. A check of the vehicle revealed that it had been reported stolen in Illinois in April 2021.
She is preliminarily being held at the Porter County Jail on several charges to include the following:
- Theft with Value of $50,000- Level 5 Felony
- Theft of Vehicle- Level 6 Felony
- Resisting Law Enforcement with Vehicle- Level 6 Felony
- Theft- Class A Misdemeanor
- Resisting Law Enforcement- Class A Misdemeanor
- Leaving the Scene of an Injury Crash- Class A Misdemeanor (2 Counts)
- Reckless Driving Causing Injury- Class A Misdemeanor (2 Counts)
- Aggressive Driving- Class A Misdemeanor
- Criminal Recklessness- Class B Misdemeanor
- Reckless Driving- Class B Misdemeanor
- Reckless Driving- Class C Misdemeanor (2 Counts)
