Pursuit Suspect Arrested in Lake County; Starke County Charges Pending

Michael Ostrowski

A pursuit incident that began in Starke County ended with the suspect being placed behind bars in Porter County.

An Indiana State Police trooper pulled over a car on U.S. 30 driven by Michael J. Ostrowski of Loves Park, Illinois as the trooper found Ostrowski was driving 90 mph in a 60 mph speed zone. Ostrowski reportedly told the trooper that he had no driver’s license or identification on him. He was able to produce registration but stated that he was not the owner of the car, although the person listed on the registration was Ostrowski.

The trooper walked back to his police car and reportedly saw Ostrowski throw an article outside the passenger side window. When the officer asked him about the object, Ostrowski denied that he knew anything about it. The trooper noticed that Ostrowski had a wallet laying in his lap. He asked to see the wallet and inside found positive identification of Ostrowski. When asked about the I.D., Ostrowski denied it was his true identity and then took off in his vehicle.

He continued west on U.S. 30 and avoided stop sticks laid out a mile east of U.S. 421 and also on 450 East in Porter County. He avoided the second set of stop sticks when he drove through the median and traveled in the eastbound lanes on U.S. 30. Porter County Sheriff’s Deputies shut down traffic on U.S. 30 and when Ostrowski approached State Road 49, he hit the stop sticks. He continued to travel to State Road 51 in Lake County before his car finally broke down.

Ostrowski, 28, was arrested and taken to the Porter County Jail on preliminary charges of Possession of Paraphernalia and Resisting Law Enforcement. Indiana State Police charges in Starke, LaPorte, and Lake Counties are pending.