Inmate escapes Park Ridge Police, carjacks two vehicles before capture in Wisconsin
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An inmate being transported to the Lake County Jail escaped officers Saturday afternoon, carjacked two vehicles in his attempts to flee, and was recaptured in Kenosha County Wisconsin.
According to the Park Ridge Police Department, two Park Ridge officers were transporting the man wanted on a warrant in Lake County around 2:38 p.m. While heading to the jail, officers noticed the man behaving erratically in the back seat had also slipped his handcuffed hands in front even after being handcuffed behind his back.
When officers pulled their squad car over on the shoulder of northbound I-294 near mile marker 52, they tried to re-secure his handcuffs, but the inmate broke free.
Officers, who had already requested assistance from Illinois State Police, tried to use a Taser on the inmate, but it was ineffective, officials said.
The man then ran across the northbound lanes of traffic, jumped the barrier and ran into the southbound lanes. He then forced a driver out of a maroon Ford van that had stopped and fled in the vehicle.
Around 3:19 p.m. near Lake Cook Road and Caribou Crossing in Northbrook, the escaped inmate ditched the Ford van and carjacked a white Chevrolet Camaro.
Police were then able to locate the Camaro through the vehicle's OnStar locator service, police said.
Wisconsin State Police located the vehicle in the area of southbound I-94 in Kenosha County and stopped and arrested the suspect.
He was taken into custody and is being held for further investigation, according to Park Ridge Police.