Jul 20, 2008 2:57 pm US/Central
$500,000 Bond For Driver Charged In Ike Crash
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
Bond has been set at $500,000 for one of two suburban men charged after striking a police officer making a routine traffic stop Friday afternoon on the West Side, then fleeing the wrong way on the Eisenhower Expressway.
One of the men was eventually shot by a police officer, after their vehicle crashed into a responding squad car.
The driver of the vehicle, Matthew Ristau of Glen Ellyn, was charged with a long list of misdemeanors, traffic violations and felonies, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said.
Ristau, 31, was charged with aggravated DUI, driving on a suspended license, aggravated fleeing the scene of an accident with injuries, aggravated DUI with no insurance, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to property, reckless driving, improper U-turn, heroin possession, aggravated battery to a police officer and attempted aggravated battery to a police officer.
Thomas Hogueisson of Wheaton was also in Ristau's vehicle during the incident, Mirabelli said. Hogueisson, 53, was charged with heroine possession.
An officer fired shots at a passenger in the vehicle after the driver attempted to accelerate towards another officer.
Police were initially conducting a routine traffic stop at Polk Street and Lavergne Avenue when narcotics were found inside the vehicle, according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.
When a police officer approached the vehicle, the driver shifted gears, struck the officer and dragged him with his vehicle, Mirabelli said.
The vehicle then fled eastbound into the westbound lanes of the Eisenhower (I-290), eventually crashing, Mirabelli said.
A squad car with two officers responded for backup and were heading westbound on the expressway when their vehicle was struck by the suspect's vehicle, which was heading the wrong way, Mirabelli said.
The crash occurred about 2 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-290 near Cicero Avenue, according to ISP District Chicago Trooper Garcia.
After the crash, when one of the officers exited the vehicle the driver attempted to accelerate towards the officer, according to Mirabelli, who said the officer's partner fired shots towards the vehicle, striking the passenger.
"The officer fired shots to prevent injury to his partner," Mirabelli said.
Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Mark Payne confirmed a police officer fired shots at an individual and said the individual was taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver and an accomplice were hospitalized and taken into police custody following the crash, according to Mirabelli. The driver was taken to Loretto Hospital and the passenger to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Mirabelli said.
The officer, who was injured in the Polk Street traffic stop, was also taken to Loretto Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Mirabelli said.
The westbound lanes of the Eisenhower were shut down from 1:50 p.m. until 5:30 p.m., according to ISP Master Sgt. Anthony Hoop, who said the expressway was shut down as investigators gathered evidence from the scene.
Ristau will appear for a preliminary hearing on July 25 in Northwest Felony Court (Br. 50).
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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