A New Jersey man was arrested after Indiana State Police say he used an axe to damage two semi-trucks along Interstate 80 in Hammond.

Troopers were called around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 11, near the Calumet Avenue overpass after a truck driver reported a Volkswagen had been driving erratically, cutting off and brake-checking semis.

Police say the Volkswagen stopped in front of the driver’s Freightliner, and the driver got out barefoot, yelling before striking the truck’s grille and headlight with a long-handled axe. The attack punctured the truck’s radiator, according to police. The man reportedly approached the cab but returned to his vehicle after the driver’s dog began barking.

A second attack was reported about 20 minutes later near the Cline Avenue overpass. Police say the suspect again stopped in front of a semi, got out and struck the front of the truck with the axe.

A trooper later spotted the Volkswagen and attempted a traffic stop. Police say the driver accelerated, reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour before Lake County sheriff’s deputies boxed in the vehicle and stopped it.

Police identified the driver as 29-year-old Ivan Savych of New Jersey. Troopers recovered an axe from the vehicle.

Savych was taken to the Lake County Jail on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and two counts of criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor.