A Portage man taken to the Porter County Sheriff’s Department by his mother to turn himself in on a felony drug charge Thursday afternoon refused to get out of the car once they arrived and fled on foot while his mother was inside.
With the assistance of K-9 officers and the Valparaiso Police Department, deputies located Justin Antecki, 25, just east of Sturdy Road, south of Martinal Road, near a farm building.
He was taken into custody without incident and transported to Porter County Jail, according to Sgt. Jamie Erow, the department’s public information officer.
Antecki and his mother arrived at the sheriff’s department around 12:40 p.m. but when they got to the parking lot, Antecki refused to get out of the car for his mother, according to a release.
When his mother came into the station to report her son was in the car and there to turn himself in, Antecki reportedly had already fled on foot from the vehicle and was last seen on recorded parking lot cameras running westbound towards Indiana 49.
Officers from the Valparaiso Police Department and sheriff’s deputies, as well as two sheriff’s K-9 officers, saturated the area and set up a perimeter.
Police located Antecki around 2:10 p.m. Because Antecki was never in custody, Erow said he would not face additional charges of resisting law enforcement.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
