A LaPorte resident was arrested early this morning on multiple charges after leading police officers on a pursuit through Union Township and then into Lake County, Valparaiso Police said.

Stephen Blazek, 20, was arrested on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle, criminal recklessness, possession of stolen property, identity deception, reckless driving, and operating a vehicle without ever obtaining a driver’s license, police said.

According to police, at 3:45 a.m. an officer stopped Blazek in the area of U.S. Highway 30 and Hayes Leonard Road. Blazek’s vehicle was later determined to have been stolen and during the early stages of the traffic stop Blazek falsely identified himself, police said.

Blazek then fled the scene, proceeding westbound and then northbound along “many county roads in Union Township,” then taking Ind. 130 into Valparaiso, then Campbell Street to West Street, and then back to U.S. 30 and westbound, crossing the county line into Hobart and then Merrillville, police said.

After turning down a dead-end street, Blazek fled his vehicle on foot and was subsequently apprehended by a K-9 unit after a brief foot pursuit, police said.

Assisting the VPD were the Porter County Sheriff’s Police, the Lake County Sheriff’s Police, the Indiana State Police, and the Hobart and Merrillville PDs.

No one was hurt during the incident, police said.

Posted 11/6/2012