A man has been arrested in South Bend after leading police on a chase that ended in Pinhook Lake.

It was around 4 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, when South Bend Police were on their way to an unrelated dispatch when they heard what sounded like automatic gunfire in the area of Portage and Vassar Avenues.

As the officers approached the area, they observed a vehicle disregard a red light.

An officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle failed to pull over and continued to drive at a high rate of speed through several neighborhoods.

After the vehicle disregarded more responding officers and traffic control devices, the suspect exited the vehicle and fled on foot, ultimately running into Pinhook Lake.

After a brief stand-off, the suspect came out of the water and was taken into custody.

As officers attempted to place the suspect in handcuffs, the suspect physically struggled with officers and grabbed one officer’s holster.

A handgun with a switch device was located along the suspect’s path to the water. A switch converts a semiautomatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun.

Officers also recovered two bullet casings and suspected drugs from the vehicle that the suspect was driving.

The suspect, Charlie Easton, 28, of South Bend, was charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon, Resisting Law Enforcement and Possession of a Machine Gun.

Easton is currently being held at the St. Joseph County Jail.