Jul 15, 2009 5:56 pm US/Central
Chicago Cops Chase Suspect 35 Miles Into Elgin
Man Suspected Of Drug Dealing Shot In Chest
ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) ―
It was a bizarre scene in the suburbs. Chicago police went far outside city borders, chased and shot a suspect in the chest.
One police source acknowledged that this police chase was highly unusual; it went on for many miles and crossed several jurisdictions. Officers were determined to capture this suspect. It seems, in large part because of what has been going on in the Chicago community where the chase began at nine o'clock last night.
The chase ended in Elgin at the Jane Addams Toll way and route 31 which is 35 miles away from where the chase began near Belmont and Central on Chicago's northwest side.
Police sources tell CBS 2's Jim Williams that officers said they saw a drug sale and that the man making the sale was a known drug dealer.
A resident said night drug deals in the area are open and aggressive. He says it has gotten worse in the three years he has lived there.
Police attempted to arrest the suspect but the man took off in an SUV setting of the chase stretching more than 30 miles out of the city.
Sources tell us several police cars chased the SUV several miles north to the Kennedy Expressway. The suspect and police got on at Nagle not far from O'Hare Airport.
Officers say he attempted to run over one of them in the SUV and that is when they shot him in chest.
The suspect is 20 years old and lives in Elk Grove Village. He has two previous felony convictions for narcotics.
So why were Chicago police so far from home?
Police procedure allows officers to pursue a suspect many miles from the city if they take into account the following conditions:
--The seriousness of the offensive
--If the necessity to stop a fleeing vehicle outweighs the danger created by
the chase
--They have to consider speed, traffic, pedestrian traffic and
weather
--The pursuing officers have to be in contact with their supervisor
A police source tells us those officers were in constant contact with their supervisor, a lieutenant, who did approve the chase.
Authorities have not yet released the suspect's name because he is in the hospital in serious condition with a gunshot wound and hasn't yet been finger-printed. Officers did say they found drugs on the suspect after he was shot.
The Independent Police Authority is investigating.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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