A Hartford man is in the Berrien County Jail facing fleeing and eluding police charges after leading multiple police agencies on a chase Friday morning. The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 at approximately 9:00 a.m., the Watervliet City Police Department attempted to perform a traffic stop for reckless driving on M-140 near Lane Drive in Watervliet Township.
The driver and sole occupant of the Ford Escape failed to pull over and the vehicle entered onto westbound I-94 with the police pursuing the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle refused to pull over and sped away, continuing through Watervliet Township, Coloma Township, and Benton Charter Township. The driver turned around near Pipestone Road and began to travel back eastbound on I-94.
During the pursuit, the driver of the vehicle pointed what appeared to be a realistic looking handgun at two Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputies who were assisting in the pursuit. The Coloma Township Police Department was able to safely deploy some “Stop Stiks”, a tire deflating device on the suspect vehicle, on eastbound I-94 near Highland Avenue in Benton Charter Township.
After the suspect began to feel one of the front tires to his vehicle slowly deflating, he pulled over, threw the realistic looking handgun to the ground, and surrendered to law enforcement officers without incident.
Jesse James Hite-Morrison, 19, of Hartford was lodged in the Berrien County Jail on one count of fleeing and eluding and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. The handgun was recovered at the scene as it was determined at that time to be a “realistic looking” toy gun.
Nobody was injured in the incident and no property was damaged other than the front passenger tire of the suspect vehicle. While the pursuit was taking place on I-94, the speed of the suspect vehicle and pursuing law enforcement personnel was approximately 100 mile per hour.
The agencies involved were the Watervliet City Police Department, Coloma Township Police Department, Benton Charter Township Police Department, and the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office.
Drug money seized in traffic stop
On Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 at approximately 11:02 p.m., Deputy Pellerito with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office New Buffalo Township Patrol was conducting radar on westbound I-94 when he observed a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta traveling in excess of 90 mile per hour.
When the Deputy attempted to effect a traffic stop on this vehicle, he observed the front seat passenger open the door and throw something out of the vehicle. After the items were discarded from the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle pulled over.
The deputies and officers that responded were able to recover the items discarded from the vehicle and the items were confirmed to be methamphetamine. The front seat passenger, Darrell Lindsey was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, 2nd offense, and on a felony warrant out of the State of Illinois for delivery of methamphetamine.
During a search of the 2015 Volkswagen, the deputies also seized $11,000 in U.S. currency, which was located in a backpack on the passenger side floorboard. The cash was seized under the State of Michigan’s Civil Forfeiture law.
Lindsey was lodged in the Berrien County Jail on the above mentioned charges while the driver of the vehicle, identified as a 35 year-old from Peoria, Illinois was released pending further investigation.