Car Crashes, Flips Over In Humboldt Park Neighborhood After Police Say Driver Flees Traffic Stop
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A car lost control as its driver fled from a traffic stop in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Tuesday, but there were conflicting accounts as to whether officers were chasing the car before it ended up upside-down.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Tuesday night, investigators in the Shakespeare (14th) Police District as of 10 p.m. were questioning the men who had been in the car.
Two of them were trapped when police said the driver refused to pull over for a traffic stop.
The Chevrolet Malibu ended up with its roof smashed and windshield shattered after the car lost control right in front of the A to Z Drake auto repair shop at North and Drake avenues in Humboldt Park.
"I heard the sirens first, and then when they turned the corner I heard like a crash," said Eric Orta.
Orta stepped outside to see the car flipping.
"Then I heard a big boom, and then the car was upside-down," he said.
The driver and one passenger were pinned. The third man managed to free himself.
"I guess one of the gentlemen were running, but they eventually caught him," said Nicholas Hernandez.
Police were on the scene immediately. The CPD said the people in the car took off speeding when officers tried pulling the Malibu over.
But police insisted they were not in pursuit of the car down North Avenue.
"It looked like a chase to me," Orta said.
Several witnesses described hearing sirens and seeing police following.
"The car was running from the cops," Hernandez said.
"If it wasn't a chase, then they wouldn't have been behind the guys, and the guys wouldn't been running," Orta said.
Yet even after the car flipped, we're told officers jumped into action to get people from the smoking car.
"I did not see any guns drawn. There were, I think, their batons out – the ones that just stretch out. They started smashing the windows to get the gentlemen out," Hernandez said.
Late Tuesday, it was not known why the men in the car ran. We're told no one was seriously injured and no officers were hurt.
Charges were pending Tuesday night.