A traffic stop at a red light in Gary erupted into a wrong-way, triple-digit chase down the Borman Expressway early Sunday, ending with one Chicago man diving out of a moving Kia's driver-side window before troopers wrestled him to the ground. Two Chicago men, 28-year-old Devin Jackson and 29-year-old Kimbrew Horton, are now facing charges after the pursuit that Indiana State Police say began at 3:29 a.m. and reached speeds of 136 mph in a 55 mph zone.
According to CBS Chicago, Trooper Griffin was on patrol when he stopped for a red light at Burr Street and 29th Avenue and spotted a green Kia sport-utility vehicle heading north toward Interstate 80. As Griffin positioned his patrol car behind the Kia to pull it over, the driver nearly struck the trooper's vehicle while turning left at that same intersection, then made a U-turn behind the police car and sped onto I-80 westbound — going the wrong way, per Indiana State Police.
The Kia eventually made another U-turn and continued west on I-80 in the correct lanes, with Griffin pursuing as the pursuit continued past Cline Avenue. Indiana State Police say the SUV hit speeds as high as 136 mph before the driver lost control after exiting onto the Kennedy Avenue exit ramp, where the Kia struck a barrier wall and stopped.
Driver Bailed Through the Window, Passenger Tried to Flee
Once the Kia came to a stop, Jackson allegedly climbed out through the driver's side window and tried to run, resisting Trooper Griffin before being taken into custody, the outlet reports. Horton also tried to run away after exiting the vehicle but was caught by another trooper nearby.
Troopers told the station they noticed an odor of alcoholic beverages coming from Jackson, along with bloodshot eyes suggesting alcohol use. Jackson would not cooperate with field sobriety tests and refused an order to get on the ground, according to the same account. He was ultimately taken to a hospital, where investigators obtained a search warrant for a blood draw to test for alcohol after he declined to submit to testing voluntarily.
That kind of warrant is a standard next step under Indiana's implied consent law. Under Indiana Code 9-30-6, drivers on state roadways are deemed to have consented to chemical sobriety testing, and refusing field tests triggers an automatic license suspension and provides officers grounds to seek a judicial warrant for a blood draw.
Felony Charges Stem From Indiana's Fleeing Statute
Jackson was charged with two felony counts along with misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, misdemeanor operating while endangering, and misdemeanor operating while intoxicated, the outlet reports. Horton was charged with misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
Indiana's fleeing law explains why Jackson's charges climbed to a felony level. Under Indiana Code 35-44.1-3-1, fleeing from a law enforcement officer in a vehicle elevates a resisting charge from a Class A misdemeanor to a Level 6 felony, and that charge can be enhanced further if the vehicle is driven in a way that creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to others. A Level 6 felony conviction in Indiana carries a sentencing range of six months to two-and-a-half years in prison with an advisory sentence of one year, plus fines up to $10,000, according to Justia, though judges have discretion to convert some first-time Level 6 convictions to misdemeanors at sentencing. The Class A misdemeanor counts Jackson and Horton each face separately carry up to 365 days in jail and fines up to $5,000, per Gibson Law Office.
A Notoriously Dangerous Stretch of Highway
The Borman Expressway section of I-80/94 running through Gary and Hammond is Indiana's busiest interstate corridor, carrying an estimated 160,000 to 200,000 vehicles a day, with commercial freight trucks making up roughly 30 percent of that traffic, according to data cited by INDOT Traffic Cams. The posted speed limit through Lake County is 55 mph, meaning the Kia was allegedly traveling 81 mph over that limit at its fastest.
It is not the first time the Burr Street corridor in Gary has produced a headline-grabbing pursuit. In July 2023, a driver reportedly reached 150 mph on I-80 before exiting near Crown Point and crashing, according to a report cited by Fox 32 Chicago. The Indiana Department of Transportation has since launched the multi-year 80/94 FlexRoad project along the Borman Expressway between I-65 and the Illinois state line, aimed at reducing severe crashes and managing the corridor's extreme congestion.
Traffic enforcement along this stretch of I-80 in Lake County falls to Indiana State Police District 13, based out of the Lowell Post, which covers seven counties across Northwest Indiana. Suspects arrested along the interstate in Gary and Hammond are typically booked into the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, a facility with a main capacity of 1,085 inmates.
It remains unclear whether the Kia had been reported stolen, what the final blood-alcohol results from Jackson's hospital draw showed, or when the two men are due in Lake County Superior Court. The pursuit came the same day as a separate La Porte County chase elsewhere in Northwest Indiana.
