Residents in three units of a Valparaiso apartment were forced to evacuate early Thursday morning after police said a drunken driver crashed into their building after a pursuit, partially the wrong way on a one-way street, that ended with the driver being extricated.
Stephan Rusnak, 47, of the 600 block of North Greenwich Street in Valparaiso, is charged with resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and four misdemeanors, three of which are related to operating while intoxicated. The fourth is for reckless driving.
A deputy with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department tried to make a traffic stop around 2 a.m. Thursday in the area of Chicago Street and Morgan Boulevard that resulted in a vehicle pursuit, according to a police report.
The officer was eastbound on Jefferson Street and saw a silver Infiniti turn north on Michigan Avenue from Jefferson. The officer followed behind the car and saw it turn east on Chicago Street, in a section of the street that is one-way going westbound.
The car accelerated away from police “at a high rate of speed,” according to the report, as it headed eastbound on the westbound portion of the street.
“The Infiniti disregarded multiple stop signs along Chicago St. as it fled from me,” according to the report.
When the car reached the intersection of Chicago Street and Marks Road, it failed to slow for a left bend in the street and continued straight through the grass, rolling and crashing into the northwest wall of the apartment building, “causing significant damage to the building.”
Police said Rusnak had a bleeding head wound but was conscious, alert and able to unbuckle his seat belt and adjust himself to an upright position. “Stephen was unable to exit the vehicle due to it resting on its passenger side, so he waited inside until extrication was possible,” police said.
First responders from the Valparaiso Fire Department cut the windshield so Rusnak could get out of the car. Police detected signs of intoxication from Rusnak, including slurred speech, the odor associated with alcoholic beverages and bloodshot eyes.
Rusnak, according to police, refused to answer questions from police or the fire department. He was unable to perform field sobriety tests because of injuries he received in the crash. He was transported by the fire department to Northwest Health Porter for treatment of his injuries and a blood draw for a blood-alcohol screening.
Police said Rusnak’s blood alcohol content was .219%, almost three times the state limit of .08%. He was transported to Porter County Jail after he was cleared from the hospital.
After police made sure the residents inside the building were OK, a building inspector was called to the scene and determined that three units had to be evacuated because of damage to the building from the crash.
According to online court records, Rusnak has a pending case filed July 10, 2022, for three misdemeanor counts related to operating while intoxicated.
