Chase from New Haven to Huntington includes 3 stop sticks, middle fingers, and paint thinner

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — A Fort Wayne man was arrested after police said he led them on a chase from New Haven to Huntington.

It was just after 11 p.m. Sunday night when a New Haven Police officer was dispatched on a report of a suspicious vehicle. A caller said a red Dodge Caravan was parked in the driveway of a home for 4 hours and he believed people inside were using drugs, according to a probable cause affidavit.

As the officer arrived at the home and approached the vehicle, the driver put the van in reverse and started to back out of the driveway, the affidavit said. As he was backing up, the driver – identified later as Christopher L. Duvall – opened the driver’s side door.

The officer told him to put the vehicle in park but Duvall said “nope” and continued to back out, the affidavit said.

The officer continued to order the driver to stop but he refused, and the van drove off northbound from the home, the affidavit said.

The officer drove after the van, which led officers down New Haven Avenue and onto S.R. 930 and eventually made an illegal U-turn. Police used stop sticks at Maplecrest Road but the van swerved to avoid them. Another set of stop sticks were used just down the road, which deflated two of the van’s four tires, but the van continued westbound, the affidavit detailed.

Another set of stop sticks were used at East Washington Boulevard and Anthony Boulevard, which deflated the other two tires. The van continued on, though, eventually into Huntington County.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop at North Meridian Road and U.S. 24, just east of Huntington – some more than 20 miles from where police first approached. There, the passenger – identified as Kelly Gibson – was detained.

Duvall, though, would not get out of the vehicle. Officers shot a gas canister into the van through the rear windshield, which forced Duvall out. He was then taken into custody.

In the van, police found an open container of paint thinner.

In the affidavit, police noted Duvall was “acting irrationally” and waiving at officers and “flipping them off.”

Duvall was taken to a hospital for an evaluation then booked into Allen County Lockup on charges of: