An Elkhart man is dead following a crash in Cass County on Sunday.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Department says it responded to the single vehicle crash on Old 205 near Cassopolis Road in Mason Township shortly after midnight.
The department says around midnight, deputies were notified that police in Nappanee, Indiana were chasing a stolen vehicle from Elkhart County into Cass County. Nappanee police terminated their pursuit when they lost sight of the stolen car, but a short time later, a resident on Old 205 notified the sheriff’s department a vehicle had crashed into a tree.
When deputies arrived on scene, they found 49-year-old Adrian Smith of Elkhart, a passenger in the vehicle, dead. The driver of the vehicle had run off. However, the driver was later found thanks to the help of a Michigan State Police K9.
Smith was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash. Deputies believe that drugs were a factor in the crash. Edwardsburg Police, Michigan State Police, Nappanee Police, and SEPSA Fire Authority assisted the Sheriff’s Office at the scene. The incident remains under investigation.
