A late-night motor vehicle pursuit by the St. Joseph County Police ended at Turtle Creek apartments around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning when the suspect exited his vehicle and took off on foot, South Bend Police spokesperson Phil Trent said.
"It was a vehicle pursuit," Trent said. "When you get in a vehicle pursuit it attracts a crowd of cops."
About 15 to 20 police officers - some from the county, others from South Bend - gathered at Turtle Creek to search for the suspect.
"We searched high and low for the guy but we couldn't find him," Trent said. "The guy was in the area on foot, but we couldn't locate him. We knew he was there, so we stayed in the area."
At 3:30 a.m., Trent received a call from the Jamison Inn, located just south of Turtle Creek on Ivy Court, where someone was allegedly trying to break into a residence. The description of the suspect "loosely matched" the description of the man they had been searching for at Turtle Creek.
Using a dog, the South Bend police officers were able to find the suspect hiding in a dumpster. He was identified by police as David Pace - the same man St. Joseph County officers had chased into Turtle Creek.
St. Joseph County Police spokesperson Jaimee Thirion was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
South Bend police became involved because Turtle Creek is within its jurisdiction and because the county police force is "thinly staffed" on late weekday nights, Trent said.
"Because they were in South Bend, we came out and assisted," he said.
