Gary, Indiana – Two people are in custody after a stolen SUV pursuit ended in a fiery crash in Hammond, prompting a multi-agency response Thursday morning.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, the incident began just before 11:30 a.m. Thursday when the agency’s Real-Time Operations Center alerted officers to a stolen vehicle detected by license plate reader technology.
A deputy located the Chevrolet Trax near West 15th Avenue and Chase Street in Gary and attempted a traffic stop. Authorities said the driver allegedly accelerated instead, fleeing westbound into Hammond. The SUV later struck a concrete barrier at a dead end on 169th Street west of Harrison Avenue.
Both occupants exited the vehicle before flames spread in the engine compartment. Local firefighters extinguished the fire.
The driver, identified as 25-year-old Martell Richardson of Riverdale, Illinois, allegedly has an active Missouri extradition warrant for second-degree assault and domestic battery. The passenger, 27-year-old Elora Strough of Clinton, Missouri, allegedly faces an extradition warrant for drug charges and is considered a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation there.
Both were transported to a local hospital for evaluation, medically cleared and booked into the Lake County Jail pending charges related to the pursuit and stolen vehicle.
Authorities credited the county’s Real-Time Operations Center, launched in 2024, with helping locate the vehicle and coordinate response.
The crash temporarily affected traffic in the Hammond industrial corridor, an area frequently used by local commuters.
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