ELKHART — An Indianapolis woman has been taken into custody in connection with a high-speed police pursuit and subsequent crash that left a teenager injured in Elkhart early this year.
Nakia Adams, 26, was arrested at her home on the morning of September 1 by the U.S. Marshals Service. The arrest followed an investigation led by the Indiana State Police, which recently submitted criminal charges to the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office. A warrant for her arrest was formally issued on August 31.
Adams faces charges including resisting law enforcement, causing serious bodily injury, and causing serious bodily injury with a schedule 1 or 2 substance in her body. She is currently being held at the Marion County Jail awaiting extradition to Elkhart County.
The charges stem from an incident on Jan. 13, 2026, when an off-duty deputy with the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office was working uniform security at a department store near Cassopolis Street and Emerson Drive.
At approximately 12:13 p.m., the deputy was alerted to a suspected shoplifter in the parking lot. When confronted by the officer, the suspect refused to stop, hurried into a beige 2012 Buick SUV, and backed up toward the deputy before driving out of the parking lot at high speed.
The deputy entered his marked patrol vehicle and drove southbound on Cassopolis Street to locate the vehicle. Shortly after, he spotted the SUV after it ran a stop sign at Country Club Drive, prompting a vehicle pursuit southbound on Cassopolis Street.
Two minutes into the response, at approximately 12:15 p.m., the fleeing Buick ran a red light at the intersection of Bristol Street and broadsided a dark gray Chevrolet passenger car entering the intersection on a green light.
The collision forced the Chevrolet onto the sidewalk at the southeast corner of the intersection, while the Buick came to a rest on the south side of the junction. The driver of the Chevrolet, a 17-year-old female, sustained injuries and was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. Adams was taken to Elkhart General Hospital for treatment before her release and subsequent prosecution.
The collision was investigated and reconstructed by the Indiana State Police Area II Critical Incident Reconstruction Team.
