DRUG BUST GETS UGLY, COP NEARLY RUN OVER

Police Fire Shot Toward Suspect, Arrest Him After Chase

PORTAGE -- An undercover narcotics officer said the moment after Gary
resident Gerald Terrance Mathews delivered crack cocaine at a Portage
motel, he ran toward Mathews to take him into custody.

But the officer said the 28-year-old Mathews ignored the commands of,
"Stop, police," and ignored the police vest he was wearing. Mathews
hopped into his vehicle and spun out, twice trying to run over the
officer, police said. The officer said he fired a shot toward the
car, but missed, and Mathews drove off.

A police chase involving undercover police and Portage police in
marked squad cars proceeded for about a mile from the motel in the
5500 block of U.S. 20. Officers said they were finally able to stop
the vehicle.

Police arrested Mathews shortly after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday on charges
of dealing cocaine, maintaining a common nuisance, resisting,
criminal recklessness and possession of marijuana. He faces up to 30
years in prison.

Porter County Drug Task Force Coordinator Robert Taylor said he will
present information to prosecutors for consideration of more serious
charges in connection with the near-running over of the officer.

"He was trying to kill him," Taylor said.

Mathews told police he didn't know the person he nearly struck was an
officer, but police said the passenger admitted knowing it was an
officer. The passenger, Keith L. Rhodes Jr., 19, of Gary, was
arrested on a charge of visiting a common nuisance.

Taylor said the Tuesday night arrests show the need for stepped up
drug enforcement.

"It tells me there's a lot of people out there making bad mistakes,
and they're dangerous," Taylor said.

Taylor said the firing of a shot was justified because the officer
felt his life was in danger. Taylor believes the bullet went
harmlessly into the woods behind the scene.

The Tuesday night drug bust involving Mathews and Rhodes was actually
the third of the night for the undercover officers at the Portage
location. First, they acted on a tip about drug use in a motel room
and arrested the suspect on a civil warrant.

Police said they continued investigating and got the suspect's drug
supplier. The investigation continued some more, leading them to the
supplier's supplier -- Mathews, Taylor said.

Taylor, who has three undercover officers working under his command,
said he'd like to see the Drug Task Force doubled to the staffing
levels that existed a decade ago.

"We're not giving up, but we can't do what people expect us to do
with this small of a Task Force," Taylor said.