HOBART, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A police pursuit of a tiny smart car on Sunday afternoon in Northwest Indiana may have had people smiling, but police weren’t.
The police chase started with a theft. The incident started around 1 p.m. Sunday at the Southlake Mall in Hobart. Police said a man robbed a cellphone store and hopped into a rented smart car and sped off.
“He was all over the place, but he was surprisingly fast for a little guy,” said David Tirado.
Tirado shared cellphone video with CBS 2 showing the tiny car being pursued.
Four police departments were involved, as the chase went onto I-80/94 and into nearby Griffith, Indiana.
“I didn’t think they took that many squad cars to take down a Smart car, but yeah, it was very impressive,” he said.
Police deployed tire-deflating stop sticks, but the driver managed to avoid them.
The little car rammed into three Hobard squad cars - one as an officer was getting out of the vehicle. He suffered minor injuries. A Griffith police officer fired a shot that hit low on the driver's side door, before the driver, a 30-year-old man and a female passenger were taken into custody.
According to CBS 2, the Griffith Police Department will do a policy review into their role in the chase and the officer who shot into the car. The Lake County, Indiana Prosecutor’s office could file charges against the 30-year-old driver as soon as Tuesday. A woman in the passenger seat was interviewed and later released. The four stolen phones were recovered.