A Marion, Iowa,
motorist led an Indiana State Police trooper on a high-speed pursuit through
a construction zone on I-65 in Lake County early this morning.
Charged with
resisting law enforcement, operating while intoxicated, and leaving the
scene of a crash was Rosa Sawyer, 33, police said.
According to
police, at 2:15 a.m. Trooper Hansen was assisting a construction company in
the northbound lanes of I-65 near Ridge Road when he observed a 2007 Toyota
Camry run over multiple construction barrels and then enter an area where
approximately 20 workers were making repairs.
“This area is
marked by an arrow board, multiple signs, construction barrels, and a
temporary concrete barrier wall,” police noted.
Hansen activated
his emergency lights and siren and commenced a pursuit of the Camry, which
reached “speeds of 80 miles per hour, drove over holes in the concrete about
five inches deep and up to two feet wide, and nearly struck a
street-sweeping vehicle head on,” police said.
The pursuit came to
an end after about a mile, police said, when the Camry stopped only 40 yards
from the construction crew, “many of whom had their backs” to the Camry,
police said.
Sawyer was taken
into custody without incident and transported to Porter County Jail.
“Trooper Hansen’s
main objective was to warn the construction crew of the oncoming vehicle by
using his lights and siren in a hope that the workers would see the vehicle
and be able to run for safety,” police said. “No workers were injured.”