2 suspects charged after 2 women shot, police chase in Lake County, Illinois
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) — Two suspects were charged after being taken into custody early Sunday morning following a wild and chaotic police chase resulting from a drive-by shooting in Beach Park.
Jonathan Garcia, 18, and a 16-year-old boy, both from Waukeagan, were charged with two felony counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Authorities said Monday that the shooting may have been random with no known motive.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said around 2 a.m., deputies responded to the area of Green Bay Road and Bonnie Brook Lane for a report of a vehicle crash and a shooting.
Arriving deputies found a vehicle in a ditch with extensive damage. Two women passengers in the vehicle suffered gunshot wounds—a 24-year-old woman was shot in the eye, and a 30-year-old woman was shot in the leg. A responding deputy applied a tourniquet to the 30-year-old woman's leg, helping save her life, the sheriff's office said.
Both women were taken to area hospitals and are expected to survive.
The 42-year-old male driver suffered minor injuries from shrapnel.
The victims told police they had no idea why a car pulled up and at least one person inside fired shots.
"This is certainly a very scary incident for those victims, anybody that's around that area when something like this occurs," said Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli. "It is totally unacceptable to be shooting a gun at other people in our society, and something we take very seriously."
A preliminary investigation indicated the victims had left a bar in North Chicago and were driving home on Green Bay Road when occupants inside a grey Dodge pulled up alongside their vehicle and opened fire. Several spent shell casings in the area were recovered.
Sharon lives on Green Bay Road in Beach Park. She said she heard a noise but never looked.
"It was a 'Boom! Boom!' and he said: 'You better look. That might be an accident,' and I didn't even get up then," Sharon said, "and then I woke up to go to the bathroom, and then I saw the flashing lights. That's when I started looking."
Sharon saw the aftermath of the incident, but the investigation was just beginning.
"And all we saw was the car was like it went in the ditch, and then started to come out again," she said, "and they were trying to see if everybody was OK."
About 30 after the shooting, a Waukegan Police officer spotted a grey Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat matching the description of the suspect vehicle. When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Sunset Avenue, the driver sped off and evaded them.
"That vehicle fled at an extremely high rate of speed," Covelli said. "These Dodge Charger Hellcats can go very fast—and outrun a police car, quite frankly."
Then, around 2:41 a.m., a Lake County Sheriff's deputy found the suspected vehicle traveling southbound on Route 41 near Route 173. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled again at a high speed. The deputy pursued the vehicle, which made a U-turn at Stearns School Road and headed northbound on Route 41 at a high rate of speed—ultimately evading the deputy.
Shortly afterward, another sheriff's deputy spotted the Dodge traveling eastbound on Route 173 and initiated a pursuit, but the driver again evaded the deputy.
A Zion Police Officer deployed spike strips, which the vehicle ran over as it continued east on Route 173. The driver temporarily maintained high speeds and again evaded officers before crashing into a heavily wooded area near Route 173 and Joana Avenue in Zion, the sheriff's office said.
Sheriff's deputies, Zion Police Officers, and Waukegan Police Officers quickly established a perimeter as the occupants fled from the Dodge. Police canines and drones were deployed to assist in the search. Sheriff's deputies and officers found and arrested two males—one juvenile and one adult—in the area.
A rifle and pistol were recovered from the Dodge, and an additional pistol was found in a backyard near where one of the offenders was captured.
"It was scary," Sharon said, "because now that you hear what happened—here we are right by Green Bay Road. It's no good place anymore though, really."
The sheriff's office said the Dodge is believed to have been stolen from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, but they are still investigating.
Garcia appeared in court on Monday morning. The Lake County State's Attorney's office said it would file a petition to detain Garcia while awaiting trial.
The 16-year-old was taken to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Center, and a hearing will determine whether the juvenile will be held in secure detention.
Sheriff's detectives believe a third person was driving the Dodge and avoided apprehension. They said they are working to verify that information and identify and apprehend that individual. Additional charges are possible.
