Woman identified who was found dead in submerged police vehicle she allegedly stole

Stan Maddux
·2 min read
1
Police lights

LAPORTE COUNTY — A Lafayette woman has been identified as the person found deceased in a LaPorte County Police vehicle she allegedly stole and drove into a water-filled ditch while trying to allude officers.

Melissa Collins, 21, was pronounced dead after being located in the submerged 2021 Ford Explorer, according to Indiana State Police.

ISP said cause and manner of death will be determined through an autopsy.

The chain of events leading up to the death began late Wednesday night, Jan. 31, when a Westville Police officer tried to stop her for undisclosed reasons in a vehicle on U.S. 421, according to LaPorte County Police.

The attempted traffic stop triggered a high speed pursuit to U.S. 30, then westbound into Porter County.

LaPorte County Police said the suspect, before reaching Indiana 49 east of Valparaiso, began traveling back to LaPorte County on U.S. 30, then headed southbound on U.S. 421 at Wanatah.

A decision was then made to terminate the pursuit in the interest of safety, police said.

Several minutes later, LaPorte County Police said information was received about a crash along U.S 421 near County Road 1400 South.

After the crash, ISP said, Collins was handcuffed and secured in the front passenger seat of the police vehicle assigned to Deputy David Grimberg.

Grimberg walked away from his patrol vehicle to investigate the crash. Collins allegedly then began manipulating her handcuffs.

Eventually, ISP said, Collins managed to unbuckle her seat belt and drive off in the police vehicle, authorities said.

While in pursuit, officers lost sight of the stolen police vehicle, but while searching the area, they discovered it submerged in a water-filled ditch in the area of 2100 South and 875 West between Wanatah and LaCrosse, ISP said.

ISP said evidence at the scene indicated the police vehicle crashed after crossing a set of railroad tracks at an extremely high rate of speed.

LaPorte County Police Capt. Derek Allen said ISP was brought into the investigation to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest because a sheriff’s department vehicle was involved.

He said why Collins was in the area and other specifics remained under investigation.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Traffic stop leads to woman's death after she allegedly steals police vehicle