Officers scour Columbus Park Golf Course for suspect who escaped Elmhurst police custody
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police Thursday afternoon were driving around the Columbus Park Golf Course on the city's West Side searching for an escaped prisoner.
As CBS 2's Steven Graves reported, golfers were preparing to tee off when they found themselves in the middle of the manhunt.
The usually quiet and tranquil environment at the golf course was interrupted by squad cars speeding right down the fairway, officers flooring it in golf carts, and police dogs on an all-out search.
"What a day," said golfer Mark Sanders. "We come in and see helicopters all around. We see police cars on the fairway. What kind of crap is that? I've never seen a car on the fairway."
Elmhurst police Chief Michael McLean said around 1 p.m., officers in Elmhurst began surveilling a vehicle and two suspects wanted in multiple catalytic converter thefts. The officers saw the suspects steal a catalytic converter in plain sight at an unspecified location in DuPage County, McLean said.
Officers tried to arrest the suspects in a nearby parking lot, but the suspects got in a car and started driving east toward Chicago. About half an hour later, Elmhurst police caught up with the suspects at Cicero Avenue and Erie Street in Chicago's South Austin neighborhood and arrested them both, McLean said.
Soon afterward, one of the suspects was being taken back to Elmhurst in a marked Elmhurst police car on the westbound Eisenhower Expressway. Just before Austin Boulevard, the suspect kicked out the back window of the squad car and escaped, McLean said.
The officer lost track of the prisoner in the woods along the south side of the Columbus Park Golf Course, police said.
Police are looking for Devin M. Revels, 27, who stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He has a face tattoo and was last seen wearing a tan shirt – and he was handcuffed.
Elmhurst police officers and squad cars were seen rolling along the green of the golf course in the park, and officers were also seen on foot. Chicago Police K9 units were also dispatched.
A Chicago Police helicopter was also flying overhead.
Oak Park police, Cook County Sheriff's police, and Illinois State Police were also involved in the search, McLean said.
The search remained very active three hours later.
One golfer said around 2 p.m., he saw a man in handcuffs running across the green. The golfer said the man ran into the bushes when helicopters began circling overhead.
"The first thing I saw was two police officers in a golf cart – which is just unusual – followed by three SUVs with their sirens in a golf course. So it was just a little off. It takes you maybe 20 seconds to kind of get your whereabouts straight after seeing that," said golfer Roberto Rodriguez. "But the chopper flying low kind of made it feel pretty real. I mean, they were probably 100 feet off the ground above us."
Police went on to clear all the golfers from the course.
"The first thing that goes through my mind is making sure everybody's safe – and that's why I checked in first thing, and obviously, you never want to be involved in any cross-shooting situation. That's the first thing that went through my mind, obviously," Rodriguez said. "So as long as that wasn't an issue, I kind of just stayed out there."
McLean said Revels was wanted in an arrest warrant for a prior aggravated assault offense in addition to the catalytic converter thefts.
"What is it – escaped criminal out of a police car – how?" Sanders said. "How can that happen?"
He said the catalytic converter thefts committed by Revels and his accomplice targeted employee parking lots for office buildings.
Given that Revels was handcuffed and unarmed when he escaped, the public is not believed to be in danger, police said.
Anyone who knows where Revels might be is asked to call 911 immediately.