Two men from Angola are facing charges after allegedly leading police on a two-county pursuit April 7.
Joel Craig Loftus, 36, Angola, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 7:33 p.m. April 7 for failure to appear, resisting law enforcement, driving while suspended with a prior suspension within the last five years and obstruction of justice.
Court documents filed Sunday list the charges against him as resisting law enforcement, a level 6 felony; obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony; driving while suspended, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; and reckless driving, a Class C misdemeanor.
Seth Daniel Danning, 35, Hudson, was booked into the KCJ at 11:16 p.m. April 7 for obstruction of justice.
Court documents list his address also as Angola and the charges against him as obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
Both men had initial bonds set at $5,000 surety and $250 cash.
On April 7, Warsaw Police Department officer Philip Hawks saw a white Subaru station wagon and ran the license plate through his in-car computer. It showed the license plate expired on Nov. 28 and came back to a green Subaru Impreza.
Hawks attempted to conduct a traffic stop but the Subaru failed to stop and traveled at speeds up to 100 mph for several miles through Warsaw, Winona Lake and Kosciusko County. According to court documents, the Subaru disregarded many stop signs and nearly caused several accidents. As the Subaru entered Wabash County, stop sticks were used, deflating the left front tire and causing the vehicle to slow down.
Officers conducted a felony stop on the vehicle and identified the driver as Loftus and the passenger as Danning. Loftus had a suspended driver’s license and two arrest warrants.
While the vehicle was fleeing, officers saw several items thrown from it. Discarded items recovered by the officers were a container containing several pieces of gauze in a pink/clear liquid, three checkbooks with another person’s name on them, one brown woman’s wallet, several credit cards, a bill of sale for a 2001 blue Subaru Outback, an orange-colored loaded flare gun and a camouflage 450-watt tailgate inverter with a USB charger plugged into it.
Officers conducted an inventory search of the vehicle and found marijuana in a clear plastic container.
Initial hearings for Loftus and Danning are scheduled for 1 p.m. May 13 in Kosciusko County Superior Court II.
