Local News

Suspect in Wild Chase a Drug User

(La Porte, IN) - A Knox man accused of battering a police officer and leading what turned out to be a wild foot chase in La Porte was allegedly a drug user.

 

Jerris Pezzuto, 20, is charged in La Porte Circuit Court with battery, resisting law enforcement, criminal mischief, and possession of methamphetamine.

 

According to court documents, Pezzuto was stopped for a traffic violation on July 21 near Lewis Bakeries in the 800 block of Boyd Boulevard. After stepping out of the vehicle, Pezzuto punched the officer several times in the head then landed more blows to his head after the officer fell to the ground, police said. While being chased by officers, he scaled the bakery's roof, then jumped down and entered the building.

 

Police said Pezzuto, like an acrobat, made his way to the ceiling and hanged from the water lines in the ceiling, then from a metal bracket tried to get back on the roof through the exhaust system. Pezzuto also ripped out the electrical wiring to the exhaust system. He was taken into custody after a La Porte County Sheriff’s Deputy trying to grab him fell from a pallet rack.

 

The officer suffered a possible sprain ankle severe enough for him to see a specialist and wear an air cast around his swollen ankle, court documents revealed. Police said less than a gram of methamphetamine and a glass smoking pipe were recovered from his vehicle. The officer he allegedly assaulted was treated and released for swelling, redness, and abrasions.  

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