Wanted felon arrested after high-speed chase from Hammond to Chicago, Indiana State Police say

An East Chicago man is in custody following a high-speed chase that stretched from Hammond, Indiana, to Chicago on Tuesday afternoon.

Indiana State Police said the Lowell Post Criminal Investigations Bureau, along with members of the SWAT Team, attempted to serve a high-risk felony arrest warrant on a person residing in Lake County.

ISP said Austin Earl Williams, 37, had active warrants for numerous violent felony and misdemeanor charges in Lake County, Indiana, in four separate cases — including burglary, robbery, domestic battery, strangulation, criminal confinement, residential entry, interfering with reporting a crime and resisting law enforcement. 

ISP said that with the use of Flock cameras and other investigative technology, troopers found the suspect driving a 2018 Ford Taurus in the area of Calumet Avenue and Conkey Street in Hammond and tried to initiate a stop. Williams allegedly then fled, leading officers on a vehicle pursuit.

He drove at a high rate of speed through Hammond before ultimately crossing into Illinois. The pursuit ended in Chicago when the suspect crashed his car at the intersection of 77th Street and East End Avenue. 

Williams was then taken into custody without further incident and later taken to the Cook County Jail by the Chicago Police Department. 

He is being held without bond pending an extradition hearing to be returned to Indiana.

ISP says additional felony charges will be sought as a result of Tuesday afternoon's pursuit.