Cars

MISHAWAKA — Did your car survive this harsh winter? If not, you may be shopping around for a new ride this spring. Dealerships say they're beginning to see a new trend when it comes to buying a car. It seems people are leaning toward buying brand new cars rather than used and pre-owned cars. Ann Landis from Granger just bought her family a brand new sport utility vehicle. "They had me test drive a used and then they worked up the pricing on a new Pilot, and the pricing was so close," Landis said.

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — The bankruptcy filing of the company making electric cars at a northern Indiana factory has the city's mayor worried about the venture's future. Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore says he learned Wednesday about the decision by Norway-based Think Global and that a company official had told the city that the factory there wouldn't be affected. Moore tells The Elkhart Truth that he still hopes the factory can be successful. Think started initial production at the Elkhart factory last year.

LEONI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A Chicago-bound Amtrak train slammed into a semitrailer that was stuck on the tracks in southern Michigan Wednesday, leaving 10 people injured, authorities said. Amtrak said the engine came to rest on its side and the first two train cars derailed in the incident in Leoni Township, 45 miles south of Lansing. The train, which began its trip in Pontiac, north of Detroit, had been carrying 68 passengers and five crew members. Blackman-Leoni Township Department of Public Safety Director Mike Jester said seven passengers, the truck driver, the train engineer and another Amtrak employee were injured.

ELKHART COUNTY - A weekend fire involving two cars in Elkhart County is now being called suspcious. Concord firefighters arrived at the corner of Frances and Portland Avenues just after midnight Sunday morning. One car was already fully engulfed and the fire was spreading quickly through the second. The internse flames set fire to a nearby tree and yard. Crews put out the fire quickly and no injuries were reported. The investigation was turned over to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department.

Police chased a man from Michigan into Indiana on Tuesday morning after officers spiked his tires. The driver of the vehicle kept going for several miles until he was forced into a guardrail near Michigan City. Three Oaks Police Chief Frank Nekvasil said he clocked Taurean C. Jackson, 26, going 36 mph in a 25 mph zone on Elm Street just after 6 a.m. He attempted to make a traffic stop and Jackson did pull over the 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis he was driving. But as Nekvasil was approaching the vehicle, he took off. Nekvasil said Jackson was giving him hand gestures as he was following him across the state line on 500 East in northern LaPorte County.

ELKHART - Police say one person died early Thursday morning when a car hit a pole in Elkhart. According to dispatch, around 5 a.m. police responded to a car accident off of Main Street across from Concord Mall. Lt. Laura Koch, Elkhart police,  says that the FACT team has been called to the scene. Stay with WSBT.com for updates as they become available.

It's one of the most memorable days of your life... Your wedding day, but what if those memories were stolen? That's sort of what happened to a Niles woman. She hired a photographer to shoot her wedding and he did. Then his camera was stolen the next day with the memory card still inside. Mark Rand of RANDom Photography left his camera inside his girlfriend's car when he went shopping at the Meijer on Grape Road in Mishawaka March 10th. He went inside, put his keys in the shopping cart and turned his back for a moment.

LAPORTE - Two suspects in an armed robbery in La Porte early Thursday were soon captured. During the chase, one of the alleged criminals bailed from the fleeing car and was hit by a police vehicle. Also confiscated was heroin, which has become a growing problem in the LaPorte area the past year or two, police said. Shane Cooper, 19, was being treated at LaPorte Hospital for injuries to his lower extremities, said LaPorte County Police deputy Andy Hynek. The seriousness of his injuries and condition were not known.

SOUTH BEND - A car-pedestrian collision has taken the life of a South Bend man. Police say it happened just before 5 p.m. Monday in the 500 block of South Michigan Street. Witness said a car was heading north on Michigan when 69-year-old Homer Jennings crossed the street into the line of traffic. Jennings continued walking right in the path of a car driven by an 18-year-old, but police don't think the teen did anything wrong. Jennings was rushed to Memorial Hospital with critical injuries, and police say he died around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

SOUTH BEND – A police officer is recovering from bruises and cuts today after a late-night accident that caused his sport utility vehicle to flip over. According to St. Joseph County police, the accident occurred just before 11 p.m. Wednesday on Mayflower Road between Indiana 23 and the U.S. 20 bypass, when a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 36-year-old Sgt. Paul Moring crashed into a stalled vehicle that was partially in the road. Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County police spokesman, said the stalled car, a gold 1994 Saturn, belonged to 17-year-old Anna Hullinger of South Bend.