UPDATE: EPD identify, charge man who barricaded himself in crashed vehicle
UPDATE: From EPD on April 16: ELKHART, Ind. - Bail has been set at $750,000 for 34-year-old Joshua Welch, identified as the suspect who led police on a chase before barricading himself in his van.
Authorities say Welch barricaded himself in a van in the 600 block of West Lusher Avenue after fleeing from an attempted traffic stop by EPD.
Welch was arrested and booked into the Elkhart County Jail on preliminary charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon, a level four felony, Criminal Recklessness, a level five felony, Possession of a Firearm with an Obliterated Serial Number, a level five felony, and Resisting Law Enforcement in a Vehicle, a level six felony.
Welch was also booked on outstanding and unrelated warrants.
The arrest has been forwarded to the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office for review of formal criminal charges.
UPDATE: From EPD at 1:23 p.m.: "The barricaded male suspect has been taken into custody."
According to the Elkhart Police Department, officers are out on an active situation in which a male subject barricaded himself inside his vehicle after crashing into a pole during a short vehicle pursuit in the intersection of W. Lusher Avenue and S. 6th Street.
Authorities say the Elkhart County SWAT is on scene and that no one else is believed to be in the vehicle.
Streets are blocked at Lusher/6th and at 8th and drivers are asked to seek alternate routes.