By: Stan Maddux
NEW BUFFALO – A man captured outside New Buffalo following a 20 mile high speed police chase on Interstate 94 in a stolen ambulance was allegedly in the country illegally.
The Baroda Lake Township Police Department revealed Monday U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement was looking for the individual on an alleged immigration violation prior to his March 10 arrest.
Fernando Rubalcava, 35, was booked into the Berrien County Jail for unauthorized driving away of an automobile, assault with a dangerous weapon, fleeing and eluding police along with other counts.
He was also being held for ICE to await possible deportation on failure to appear for removal from the USA.
According to St. Joseph Township Police, medics from Three Oaks stopped at Panera Bread at Interstate 94 and Niles Road to get coffee.
The 2009 Chevy ambulance left running with the keys in the ignition was gone when the medics returned about ten minutes later, police said.
Chikaming Township Police Sgt. Brandon Jones said the ambulance was on Interstate 94 near Sawyer when a traffic stop was first attempted.
One of the officers pulled beside the rig and pointed his service weapon at Rubalcava who tried swerving into the police vehicle.
The officer managed to avoid a collision by slamming on his brakes then pulled onto the left shoulder of the highway.
The pursuit reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour was continuing when Pokagon Tribal Police officer Brody Weidner deployed stop sticks that punctured the right front tire of the ambulance.
The ambulance now slowing down veered onto U.S 12 at Exit 4 outside New Buffalo and parked at the nearby Greek Orthodox Church on Behner Road.
Police said Rubalcava was trying to open a door on the church when taken into custody.
Efforts to determine motive and obtain further information from the suspect were unsuccessful due to a language barrier, police said.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.