On the evening of November 20th, officers were notified about a kidnapping where a female alerted her mother that she was held against her will inside a vehicle with two men, and the suspect was armed with a handgun, which was confirmed by the Indiana State Police. The reported kidnapping initiated a police chase and ultimately ended with a car crash involving a police car in Chesterton, in addition to an extensive search for two suspects who fled on foot.

The Indiana State Police revealed to the press that the kidnapping occurred around 7 p.m. and began traveling east on Interstate 94 from Illinois’ state line. State troopers identified the vehicle pending the victim’s description on eastbound Interstate 94, only two miles from Indiana 49.

At about 7:15 pm, troopers tracked down the suspected vehicle on I-94. The car had pulled over, but then rapidly drove away, thus sparking the car chase. The pursuit ceased at approximately 7:20 p.m. when the suspect’s vehicle crashed into a squad car around Ind. 49, thus resulting in the suspects escaping on foot. During the investigation, a helicopter accompanied the chase and landed in Chesterton Senior High School’s parking lot.

Chesterton police found the man who attempted to escape after the crash involving the police car, officials detail. Two of the police cars did not collide with the suspect car, but the third police car, a 2021 Dodge Durango, was hit. The collision caused the car to rotate and the suspect’s vehicle ended up in a ditch. Two people retreated from the vehicle and headed west on Calumet Avenue. Amongst the chase on foot, one suspect was tased and taken into custody at the Phillips 66 gas station. The other suspect was seen in all black attire and was reported to be male.

In the suspected vehicle were three other persons who did not leave the vehicle. Police state, one of the occupants was a female and was taken to Northwest Health-Porter with minor injuries. The captured suspect was taken to Franciscan Health in Crown Point for minor injuries as well.

An officer was injured during the chase, Cpl. Scott Cornelison, a 16 year veteran of the Porter Police Department. He was taken to Northwest Healthy-Porter with non-life threatening injuries.

The Chesterton Police Department received a call Sunday morning regarding a shady male asking to use a telephone at the Phillips 66 gas station located on Calumet.

Officers were able to reach the male who had attempted to run from the police Sunday morning after he had asked to use the telephone at Phillips 66 gas station, however, was chased and taken into custody. The handgun was discovered to have been from Michigan, as well as stolen.

The suspect, Samuel A. Kuhl, age 29, is wanted on two separate extradition warrants in Kalamazoo, Michigan regarding a felony charge for unlawful possession of a weapon. Kuhl is being held at the Porter County Jail and the charges are currently pending.

After speaking with Sgt. Swickard about the events that took place, he explained,
“Don’t listen to rumors on social media. Listen to the official press release.”