At approximately 1:07 a.m. Tuesday, a vehicle pursuit by the Cass County Sheriff’s Department ended when a Royal Center women crashed into the back of an Indiana State Police car.
Tuesday at approximately 12:48 a.m., officers from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department initiated a traffic stop on a 2011 Toyota Sierra minivan, which was allegedly weaving from lane to lane, on State Road 35 near State Road 24 in Cass County. The driver, later identified as Melissa K Smith, 36, Royal Center, allegedly failed to stop and led the officers on an approximately 19 minute vehicle pursuit.
The chase ended when the Toyota hit the back of a 2018 Dodge Charger on State Road 25 at Rockfield Road in Carroll County. The Dodge was a fully marked Indiana State Police car driven by Trooper Andrew Smith. The police car was off the roadway blocking the Rockfield Road intersection. Trooper Smith was out of the car preparing to deploy stop sticks and narrowly avoided being struck by the two vehicles after the crash impact. Preliminary evidence indicates Melissa Smith intentionally crashed into the police car.
Melissa Smith was transported to Logansport Memorial Hospital with life threatening injuries. Trooper Andrew Smith was not injured.
Trooper Smith is a three veteran of the Indiana State Police Department.
This is an ongoing investigation. No further information will be released at this time.