Special Report: Police fighting back as Chicago crime spills into Indiana

By Natalie Bomke, Fox 32 Chicago

CHICAGO – Chicago criminals are targeting Indiana and police there say they are fighting back.

“We’ve seen a lot of vehicles being stolen in Illinois or Chicago, crossing into the Indiana state line, committing other crimes, drive-by shootings, homicides, burglaries,” said Lake County Indiana Sheriff Oscar Martinez, Jr.

From fast cars to new technology, his department is using every means possible to catch up to criminals.

“They think if they get to the Illinois state line or Chicago that the Lake County Sheriff’s Department will not chase them. Well, that’s incorrect,” Sheriff Martinez said.

To keep up with criminals, the department purchased nine high-performance vehicles.

“These vehicles are the common vehicles that car thieves steal because they’re high-performance vehicles. They have 707 horsepower, they do nearly 200 miles an hour, so our police cars can’t keep up with these types of vehicles,” said the sheriff.