High-Speed Getaway Ends Up InSmoke

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - (07/07/05) -- A credit union robber was draggedout of the smoking wreckage of his getaway car Tuesday amid flyinggreenbacks he had stolen a short while before from Grand HeritageFCU, after a high-speed chase that ended when the thief slammed hisgetaway car into a pursuing police cruiser. The suspect, identifiedas 41-year-old Robert Kucharski, led police down Indiana Highway 2on speeds up to 115 miles-an-hour, swerving in and out of localconstruction zones and around tire deflation devices thrown down bypolice in an effort to slow the vehicle. The chase ended after thegetaway car hit a pursuing police cruiser, then was forced off theroad as the suspect's car burst into flames. Kucharski, who begantossing cash out of the car, refused to leave the vehicle but wastagged with a stun gun as officers pulled him free.