Barefoot man uses axe to attack 2 semis, leads police on I-80 chase in Hammond

HAMMOND, Ind. (WISH) — A New Jersey man was arrested Friday evening after police said he attacked two semitrailers with an axe and drove “erratically” on I-80 in Hammond.

At 4:30 p.m., Indiana State Police troopers were dispatched to I-80 eastbound near the Calumet Avenue overpass on the report of a man, later identified as 29-year-old Ivan Savych from New Jersey, attacking a semitrailer with an axe.

When officers arrived, they found a 2025 tractor-trailer parked on the inside shoulder. The driver of the semi said she saw a black 2011 Volkswagen with Illinois plates driving erratically, brake-checking, and cutting off other semis. She said the car stopped in front of her, forcing her to a complete stop. The driver said Savych got out of the Volkswagen without shoes, appeared irate, and yelled incoherently.

She said Savych reversed his car, nearly hitting her truck, then got out again carrying a long-handled axe. The man hit her grill, punctured the radiator, and struck the driver-side headlight. The driver said he approached her door, but her large dog began barking loudly, prompting him to return to his car and flee.

At about 4:49 p.m., dispatchers received a second 911 call about a similar attack on eastbound I-80 near the Cline Avenue overpass. Savych reportedly stopped in the road and hit a second semi with the axe. The second driver told troopers he saw the car traveling between lanes at about 10 mph. He tried to change lanes to avoid the man, but the Volkswagen swerved in front of him and stopped. The driver said Savych got out of the vehicle and hit the front of his semi with the axe before fleeing.

A state trooper later saw the car on I-80. When she turned on her lights and sirens, Savych accelerated from 16 mph to 60 mph, starting a chase. Police say Savych reached 80 mph before Lake County Sheriff’s deputies boxed in the vehicle.

The trooper said Savych did not speak English and would not cooperate. Police found a long-handled axe inside the Volkswagen.

Savych was taken to the Lake County Jail and is preliminarily charged with resisting law enforcement, a low-level felony, and two counts of criminal mischief.

A booking photo was not immediately available.

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