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Cass Sheriff Warns of Winter Warm-Ups Following Theft & Chase

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Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke hopes that incidents on Sunday will turn into a teachable moment for everyone in the region. Behnke’s message to everyone is simple, there are considerable risks to leaving your car unattended while running it to get it warmed up on a cold winter’s morning.

He says his department was dispatched before dawn on Sunday morning, December 15th, as they gave chase to a vehicle that had been reported stolen from Elkhart, Indiana.

His Deputies were alerted to the stolen vehicle by the Elkhart County Dispatcher, who advised that the owner of the vehicle was tracking it through a GPS device. That owner told authorities that his vehicle was currently on the road in Cass County. He proceeded to keep dispatchers aware of the route being taken by the thief.

Behnke says that the owner of the vehicle had left it warming when the suspect was alleged to have taken it. Deputies were able to locate the thief and attempted to stop him, however he fled from Deputies through the Village of Vandalia, traveling back into Indiana and then reversing his route back into Michigan.

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Fortunately for everyone, the thief eventually ran out of fuel and surrendered to Deputies without further incident on Calvin Center Road near Chain Lake Street in Cass County’s Calvin Township.

Deputies were assisted in the pursuit by the Michigan State Police Niles Post and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department. The suspect’s name is being withheld pending arraignment for charges from the incident.  He is also facing similar charges from Indiana Authorities for the incident, which remains under investigation at this time.

Again, Sheriff Behnke is asking us to remind everyone of the risks of warming their vehicles and leaving them unattended during the winter season.