Staff Report

Tony Jordan Yowell

WARSAW — A Goshen man was recently arrested after allegedly stealing a vehicle and leading law enforcement in a pursuit.

Tony Jordan Yowell, 24, 20210 CR 21, Goshen, is charged with carrying a handgun without a license and resisting law enforcement, both class A misdemeanors; resisting law enforcement in a vehicle and theft, both level 6 felonies; unauthorized entry in a motor vehicle and criminal recklessness, both class B misdemeanors; sentence enhancement carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction within 15 years, a level 5 felony; and a habitual offender enhancement.

On Feb. 17, the county’s 911 center received a call from Onstar regarding the theft of a vehicle, which was stolen from the Wabash area. Onstar staff reported that they were tracking the vehicle with GPS monitoring and that the vehicle was in Kosciusko County.

According to court documents, Claypool’s town marshal found the vehicle traveling north on SR 15 from the CR 350S area. A Kosciusko County deputy pulled over in the area of Fruitridge Drive in Warsaw to assist in the pursuit.

When the suspect vehicle passed the deputy, the vehicle’s driver looked at the deputy and immediately sped up. The driver nearly hit a white box truck he was following and continued north on Fisher Avenue in Warsaw while fleeing officers.

Onstar was able to reduce the vehicle’s speed to five miles per hour. As the vehicle lost acceleration, the driver’s door opened and the driver left, fleeing on foot.

During the vehicle pursuit, the Claypool marshal noticed the vehicle’s driver throw an item out of the vehicle. After the pursuit, the marshal and a Warsaw Police detective searched the area where the item was thrown. Officers found a handgun on the ground. The weather conditions were snowy and the handgun was not covered in snow.

Officers saw the driver jump a fence and run north toward Lakeland Drive. They pursued the driver by following footprints in the snow and found the suspect hiding in a vehicle. The driver was identified as Yowell. Officers later learned that Yowell was a suspect in several other auto thefts in Elkhart and Marshall counties.

When Yowell jumped from the stolen vehicle and fled police, he left the vehicle in gear. The vehicle continued rolling toward nearby vehicles that were stopped for law enforcement. To protect these drivers and their vehicles, a Warsaw Police officer positioned her vehicle to sustain the impact from the stolen vehicle. The vehicle continued north and hit the officer’s police car, causing damage to the vehicle but no personal injury.

Yowell was previously convicted of escape, theft of a firearm, possession of a syringe, and two counts of failure to return to lawful detention, all out of Elkhart County.

Yowell was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Feb. 17, with a $30,000 surety and cash bond.