At least three police chases took place in Chicago in less than 12 hours Wednesday and several suspects remained on the run Thursday.
Two of the chases resulted in crashes in the city, with at least one person hospitalized.
A study by the U.S. Department of Justice called police chases “the most dangerous of all police activities” and found there are far more police chases than police shootings, nationwide. And a recent investigation by USA Today found that more people are killed or injured in the Chicago area, as a result of police pursuits, than anywhere else other than Los Angeles.
The first chase began during the evening rush hour, just before 5:30 p.m., when police said a wanted vehicle was seen in the city’s Englewood neighborhood and attempted to flee from police.
The vehicle entered the Dan Ryan Expressway going southbound, before traveling onto Interstate 57. The car was seen traveling erratically at a very high rate of speed.
It was ultimately surrounded at a stoplight at 167th Street and Kedzie in south suburban Markham.
Chicago police said four suspects were taken into custody at the scene and no injuries were reported. Illinois State Police confirmed the chase involved a stolen vehicle.
At 9:43 p.m., Illinois State police started chasing a vehicle on the Eisenhower Expressway in suburban Lombard. The driver, accused of drug-induced homicide, led police on a chase into Chicago, where state police confirm the vehicle traveled 80 mph up Lake Shore Drive to Sheridan, then over to Ashland Avenue before heading back south.
The vehicle at one point crashed into a Nissan near Ashland and Berteau, sending the vehicle and its driver plowing in a nearby apartment building.
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State police ultimately stopped pursuing the vehicle around 10:30 p.m., saying it was too dangerous to continue. Chicago police soon followed and the suspect’s vehicle was later located abandoned in Bensenville.
Less than two hours later, another chase in Chicago ended in a mangled mess in the city’s South Loop.
Illinois State Police were chasing a stolen vehicle in the city when it crashed into two other vehicles at the intersection of Michigan and Roosevelt.
The suspects fled the scene and remain on the loose.
A man in one of the vehicle involved in the crash was found unconscious and rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where his condition was not immediately known.
