Police Chase Of Drug Death Suspect Leads To Multiple Crashes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police were searching for a heroin-induced homicide suspect who led officers on a chase through the western suburbs and into the city, before causing at least two crashes, and taking off again.
Chicago police called off the chase after a civilian's car ended up crashing into a Lakeview apartment building.
It started around 9:15 p.m., when police in Lombard started chasing a vehicle driven by a person wanted in connection with a drug-induced homicide. Lombard police said, around 2:30 p.m., officers responded to a home for a fatal heroin overdose.
After investigators identified a suspect who allegedly supplied the drugs, police tried to pull over a 2002 Pontiac Bonneville, but the suspect fled, taking officers on a long, winding chase through several suburbs and parts of Chicago -- including on stretches of the Eisenhower Expressway, the Stevenson Expressway, and Lake Shore Drive.
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Lombard police ended their involvement in the pursuit at Congress Parkway and Wacker Drive. Lombard Police Sgt. Michael said the decision was the result of "the totality of the circumstances."
"We had other agencies that are more familiar with the area; the speed. We just made the decision that we're going to pull back and follow our policies and our procedures," he said.
Shortly after 10 p.m., a Chicago police car that joined the chase crashed into another vehicle at Congress Parkway and Leavitt Street. Two police officers and the driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Around 10:25 p.m., a state police cruiser collided with the suspect's vehicle in the 4200 block of North Ashland Avenue. The suspect's car then hit a third vehicle, which smashed through the bedroom window of a garden apartment.
The woman who lives in the apartment said the bedroom belongs to her grandson, and if he wasn't working at the time, he would have been sleeping in there, and could have been seriously injured.
"When I heard that bam, I came out of the room, and I saw that car in there. I said 'What the hell happened here?' and that's it, and then ran outside," Aracelia Rodriguez said.
The driver and passenger from the car that hit the building were taken to the hospital in good condition. No one else was injured.
The suspect continued driving south on Ashland Avenue after that crash. State troopers called off their chase on Ashland Avenue near Roosevelt Road, but Chicago police continued pursuing the car as it made its way onto the Stevenson Expressway, then back onto city streets on the West Side, before finally calling off the chase near O'Hare International Airport, because a police helicopter was approaching restricted airspace.
The Pontiac later was found abandoned in Bensenville.
Lombard Police Lt. Cindy Velazquez said "they got away for now," but police said they know who they are looking for, and are confident they will catch the suspect.
"Realize that during that pursuit we do develop information to be able to apprehend them later" Velazquez said. "We realize, after years of experience with these drug-induced homicides, that there doesn't tend to be just one victim. If it's a bad batch of heroin – or any other drug – we're going to find other victims, and we're trying to find who provided it so we can stop further deaths."
Chicago police said a review is underway into the chase and whether it was appropriate.
"The Chicago Police Department holds the safety of pedestrians and drivers in the highest regard. Pursuing a vehicle has important consequences, and we take every effort to ensure the safety of all involved in each instance," the department said in a prepared statement. "Following any pursuit, CPD's Traffic Review Board - within their jurisdiction – reviews individual cases to ensure they meet compliance and the Department's high standards for public safety."
Illinois state police said they would also review the events.
