MISHAWAKA – A South Bend man is charged with a felony for leading police on a chase that involved an officer and his K-9 in a car crash.
Lt. James Bartlett, who works with the Mishawaka Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit, and his K-9, Bailey, responded to a pursuit after a suspect, identified as 32-year-old Brison Williams, failed to comply with a traffic stop because he use of a seat belt, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office said in a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 11.
During the chase, Bartlett was involved in a crash with two other vehicles and a fence, police said in a Dec. 10 news release. No one involved, including Bartlett and the dog Bailey, was injured in the crash, police said.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Williams was driving up to 55 miles per hour and led another officer on a chase near Battell and Logan streets before exiting the vehicle and driving away. Police said Williams crashed into a garage before witnesses told police he ran into an apartment.
After knocking on the apartment door, the tenant, 31-year-old Jesse Houston, opened the door and officers smelled marijuana coming from the apartment, the prosecutor’s office said. They obtained a search warrant to look for Williams and contraband, according to the probable cause affidavit. Houston denied that another man was in the apartment with him, prosecutors said.
Williams was found under the bed, the prosecutor said. Also in that room was 205 grams of crystal methamphetamine next to Houston’s mail, prosecutors’ documents said.
The St. Joseph County District Attorney’s Office charged Williams with possession of methamphetamine, a level three felony, and resisting law enforcement, a level six felony. Williams was not charged with auto theft, which was listed as a charge on the St. Joseph County Jail website. Houston was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a level three felony, and assisting a criminal, a level six felony.
Arraignments for Williams and Houston are scheduled for Dec. 12 at 1 p.m., the prosecutor’s office said.
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 2 charged after Mishawaka police chase; police officer and dog unharmed
