Indiana prowlers crash in Portage

PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) - Two young men from Indiana are accused of breaking into more than a dozen garages in West Michigan Tuesday morning.

"Once they got into the garage they would take whatever was of value in the garage," Portage Police Sgt. Michael Collier told 24 Hour News 8.

A couple in the 1000 block of Rainbow Court were awoken by their home's alarm around 4:40 a.m. and the suspects ran from the scene, but not before stealing $3 from the garage, police said.

The homeowners then called police.

"I wasn't too scared but my wife, she was pretty scared but I was not," Max, the homeowner who didn't want to be identified, told 24 Hour News 8.

The suspects fled the scene in a vehicle registered in Elkhart, Ind. and crashed during a pursuit with police after the driver lost control in a median near Romence Road Parkway and Westnedge Avenue.

Both occupants of the vehicle ran from the crash site.

A police K-9 unit tracked down the passenger hiding in a shed in the 300 block of Cameo Street. The 20-year-old man will be charged with multiple counts of home invasion, and resisting and obstructing police. He was taken to a hospital after complaining about back and leg pain following the crash.

The passenger told police another suspect, the driver, was still at large. However, the 22-year-old suspect was found around 3 p.m. hiding under a boat at Austin Lake. He was in possession of stolen property, police said, and did not resist arrest.

Police found a gun in the suspects' vehicle, as well as a large quantity of suspected stolen items, including gas cans, lawn equipment, golf clubs, cell phones, tools and GPS units.

Police said the suspects used tools to pry open doors of garages and vehicles, that weren't locked, to steal the items.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Portage Department of Public Safety at 269.329.4567 or Silent Observer at 269.343-2100.