A Monday vehicle pursuit led to the arrests of Tavonta Lawrence, 19, a 15-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old girl, all from South Bend. The 16-year-old and the 15-year-old were incarcerated in the South Bend Juvenile Detention Center. The 15-year-old boy faces charges for auto theft, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, possession of stolen property, reckless driving, aggressive driving, and operating a vehicle without ever having received a driver’s license. The 16-year-old girl faces a charge for resisting law enforcement. Lawrence was incarcerated in the Miami County Jail on a criminal charge of resisting law enforcement. 

About 6:00 pm Monday, an off-duty Indiana State Police trooper reported a Jeep Cherokee  traveling on northbound U.S. 31, near Miami County Road 1400 South, at approximately 115 miles per hour in a posted 60 miles per hour zone. Trooper Kyle Miller located the Jeep near Miami County Road 500 South and initiated a traffic stop. The driver of the Jeep, later identified as a 15-year-old boy, allegedly failed to stop, and led Miller on a vehicle pursuit. The vehicle chase ended when the Jeep crashed into a ditch on U.S. 31 near Eel River Road.

Immediately after the crash, Lawrence and the 16-year-old girl emerged from the Jeep and fled on foot. The 15-year-old girl was captured immediately. Lawrence was taken into custody after Trooper Andrew Baldwin utilized his police dog, Mack, to track Lawrence’s location in a nearby wood line. 

There were no injuries in the crash.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the Jeep Cherokee had been reported stolen from Mishawaka.