911 Dispatcher Killed In Crash With Stolen SUV Being Chased By Cops
Updated 07/10/11 - 5:09 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 911 dispatcher for the city of Chicago was killed on her way home from work Sunday morning, when her car was struck by a stolen SUV that was being chased by police.
As CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports, the stolen Range Rover that slammed into the victim's car in the Bucktown neighborhood was being chased by police after it fled from a traffic stop.
Marciea Adkins, 42, was driving home after her shift at about 6:15 a.m. Sunday when her car was struck by a Range Rover at the intersection of Armitage and Hoyne avenues.
Adkins, of 2036 N. Stave Av., was pronounced dead at 6:54 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The pictures of Adkins' smashed black sedan, crushed at the driver's side, show the violent impact of the early morning crash.
Police said officers had been chasing the Range Rover after it fled from a traffic stop.
According to a statement from Police News Affairs, officers had pulled the Range Rover over at Blackhawk Street and Elston Avenue, for running a red light at Webster and Elston Avenues.
As the officers were exiting their vehicle, the driver of the Range Rover backed up toward the officers and then struck the vehicle of a police supervisor who was on the scene.
The Range Rover fled the scene and officers gave chase. The SUV ran a stop sign while driving north on Hoyne, then struck Adkins' car, which was headed west on Armitage. The SUV then hit a parked car and the driver fled the scene on foot, but was arrested a short time later.
Police said further investigation revealed the Range Rover had been stolen.
The driver who was driving the stolen SUV was hospitalized and remained in police custody as of Sunday afternoon.
Witness Frank Hamilton said, "I just heard a boom, like I thought maybe it was fireworks or something."
Even the weighty Range Rover that slammed into Adkins' car was also reduced to pieces.
Adkins worked as a 911 dispatcher for the city of Chicago since December 1996. She was returning home from the overnight shift at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications when the Range Rover slammed into her car.
Chicago police officers were standing guard outside her grieving family's home late Sunday afternoon. In a statement OEMC Executive Director Gary Schenkel said that, "according to her coworkers and supervisors, she was the nicest, most positive person you would ever want to meet."
Witness Steve Jensen said he was standing in front of his house at the time of the crash and, before the collision, he heard sirens approaching.
Jensen said it appeared that at least two to three police cruisers were chasing the Range Rover when the crash occurred.
"First I saw police vehicles speeding through the neighborhood. I heard them in different parts of the neighborhood. I heard squealing tires, revving engines and, within seconds, maybe 20, that's when I heard the crash behind me."
According to witnesses, within seconds more cruisers were on the scene. Witnesses said a man in a red shirt and shorts darted from the Range Rover, but was eventually taken into custody and placed on a stretcher.
"The offender fled and they caught him ... on the block behind my house," Jensen said.
Witness Mike Byrne said, "they caught him less than a block away, apparently."
Sources said that any police chase typically needs the permission of supervisors, who monitor its progress and decide when to cut it off.
