Whitley County, IN (WOWO)
Just after 3:00 am on the morning of Sunday, July 15th, an Indiana State Police SWAT officer was responding to an emergency call, driving near US30 County Road 600 East in Whitley County heading to Elkhart County. The officer noticed a vehicle in front of him turn his lights off and begin to speed up. The trooper was already headed to an emergency call, and he was not interested in stopping the individual, until he noticed the dangerous speed, the suspect was driving faster than the officer responding to the call. The officer began pursuing the suspect in a Nissan 370, with an Indiana license plate reading “GARRIDO”.
As the pursuit continued west, the officer called in backup up and other agencies shortly arrived on the scene to assist. Another trooper was able to successfully deploy a tire deflation device in the form of “stop sticks”. The device was successful, but the Nissan continued west on US30 into Kosciusko County, where it crashed near the intersection of US30 and Old Road 30. The suspect continued the pursuit on foot and was very quickly caught and taken into custody. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash.
The driver was identified as Jose Miguel Garrido, as per his license plate. The suspect is 20 years old from Warsaw County, Indiana.
Mr. Garrido denied any medical treatment and was arrested on multiple charges throughout Whitley and Kosciusko Counties.
The charges include:
- Resisting Law Enforcement with Vehicle – Level 6 Felony
- Resisting Law Enforcement – Class A Misdemeanor
- Forgery – Posse/Produce/Distribute False Government ID – Class A Misdemeanor
- Leaving the Scene of a Crash – Class B Misdemeanor
- Reckless Driving – Class C Misdemeanor
The Indiana State Police Troopers were assisted by the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, the Columbia City Police Department, and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.
*All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
