News from all over - Hobart / Merrillville

A Merrillville man police say stole a Hobart squad car while handcuffed was charged Thursday with escape and auto theft. Gerald Hayes Jr., 39, faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

On Tuesday, Hobart police Officer Ryan Petry stopped to help another officer with a shoplifting suspect at the Interstate 65 interchange at 61st Avenue, court records state. Petry put Hayes in the back seat of his patrol car, handcuffed with his hands behind his back, the report states.

While Petry walked away for a moment, Hayes managed to maneuver his cuffed hands to the front, jumped into the driver's seat and drove off, speeding west with lights and sirens down 61st Avenue, court records show.

Police said Hayes was going too fast to negotiate the turn onto Broadway and crashed into a blue Buick. Hayes got out of the squad car and ran off, but Merrillville police Officer Nathan Schrock and his police dog, Sirus, caught Hayes, Merrillville police Operations Cmdr. Lance Huish said.

"Officer Schrock yelled at him three times to halt, and when he didn't, he released his dog after him," Huish said. Officers took Hayes to the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus in Merrillville for treatment of a dog bite, Mike Higgins, Lake County police spokesman, said.

Medics took a passenger in the blue Buick to Methodist for treatment of chest pain, reports state.
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