Robert Maday's daring escape from custody -- a 24-hour ordeal in which he overpowered two armed guards, stole two cars, robbed a bank, and became the talk of the city -- has ended with him in custody after a car crash on Rte. 59.
Maday, still driving the gray Jetta he'd stolen this morning, was fleeing a police chase when he crashed into a Jeep then hit a utility pole.
"He hit the pole and the pole flew up into the air ... it flew up like a toy," said Nicole Bratko to Chicago Breaking News, who happened to be driving nearby.
The Jeep's driver had pulled over after hearing the sirens behind him.
Police, with guns drawn, ran to the Jetta. Maday was wedged between the front seat and the steering wheel, complaining of back pains.
Maday did not resist arrest. Bystanders cheered when he was placed in handcuffs.
He was transported to a hospital.
Maday Escaped From Two Armed Guards
Maday's escapade started Thursday morning when he overpowered two Cook County state's attorney's investigators in a sedan while being transported to the courthouse near Arlington Heights and Central Roads.
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Maday was shackled at the hands and feet, but somehow managed to grab the gun of one of the investigators, authorities said at a press conference. Then, under "threat of death," authorities said Maday got the gun off the other investigator.
Maday had also forced one of the investigators to strip and then put on his pants and shoes. He dumped their car near 1701 Golf Road in Arlington Heights, authorities said.
Before his transport, Maday told a family member he was confident he could get away from his guards, according to the Sun-Times.
Eludes Police Through the Night
Maday then carjacked a vehicle from a shopper at a nearby Meijer's Supermarket near Algonquin and Golf Roads in Rolling Meadows, CBS 2 Chicago reported, citing Rolling Meadows Deputy Police Chief Dave Scanlon.
That car was reportedly also ditched in the parking lot behind the building.
A SWAT team was called in, and several area schools were put on lockdown.
Maday was then apparently sighted in an Arlington Heights apartment building. Police squads, including snipers units and SWAT team members set up a perimeter near Arlington Heights and Algonquin roads, right behind a Boston Blackie's restaurant on Goebbert Road, the Chicago Tribune reported.
At least twenty police cars were parked near the complexes
Police then stormed the building looking for him, but came up empty.
Strikes Again Friday Morning
The next morning at approximately 6:45 a.m. a female driver in a silver/grey Jetta had her car stolen near the 2300 block of Hassel and Schaumburg, according to police.
As the woman exited her vehicle at her office, she spotted a man sitting on a curb. The man approached and demanded her car keys, which she gave to him. The woman was not injured. She later positively identified the car jacker as Robert Maday from a police photo.
At 8:55 a.m. a man claiming to be “the fugitive” walked into the First American Bank in Bloomingdale, just a few miles south of Hoffman Estates, and implied that he had a gun. The man then left on foot. No gun was shown, and no injuries were reported.
The carjacker was wearing blue jeans, a white baseball cap and a green t-shirt, police said. The car has Illinois license plate A392864, and was last seen headed south on Barrington Road.
Before he escaped, Maday was expected to be sentenced to 13 years for previous crimes.
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