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 thefleeing vehicle into a pursuing police cruiser. The suspect,identified as 41-year-old Robert Kucharski, led police down IndianaHighway 2 on speeds up to 115 miles-an-hour, swerving in and out oflocal construction zones and around tire deflation devices throwndown by police in an effort to slow the vehicle. The chase endedafter the getaway car hit a pursuing police cruiser, then wasforced off the road as the suspect's car burst into flames.Kucharski, who began tossing cash out of the car, refused to leavethe vehicle but was tagged with a stun gun as officers pulled himfree.