Vehicle Linked To Homicide Of A Baby Chased To Chicago
Around 9:10 PM Monday, August 22, 2022 St. John Police attempted to stop a red Chrysler 300 with a temporary license plate on it which came back stolen from Rockford, according to Chief Steve Flores. The officer initiated a traffic stop in the Walgreens parking lot at 93rd Ave and Wicker. Police were not able to see inside of the car which had heavily tinted windows and when the officer gave loud commands to roll down the window, the vehicle accelerated onto southbound Wicker Ave at a high rate of speed and a pursuit was initiated. The pursuit inevitably went into Illinois then north on 394 to Chicago.
The pursuit went in and out of the Altgeld Gardens off of 130th and the Bishop Ford then to Riverdale multiple times. A Chicago Police air unit assisted calling out the chase to both states pursuing the Chrysler. One St John police car was damaged during the pursuit, Flores said. The suspect vehicle eventually lost control at 115th & Doty road where it crashed into a pond.
The suspect exited the car with two other occupants without further incident when he was surrounded by Illinois State Police, Chicago Police, the air unit, and St. John units. Two children were identified as the other occupants, ages 7 and 9, according to Flores. There were no injuries reported to the children or officers but paramedics checked out the children as a precautionary measure.
The vehicle in question is a rental that was stolen and believed to be involved in the homicide of a 5 month old baby in Chicago on June 24th near 71st & Crandon along with several other violent crimes, police told RNS. The vehicle has also evaded Chicago Police on several occasions with different plates on it.
The suspect whose name has not been released yet also was determined to be driving on a suspended license, and was wanted on a full extradition warrant by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
