Suspects abandon U-Haul truck after high-speed chase through Chicago

Two men fled in U-Haul trucks after attempting to steal golf carts from the Lake Bluff Golf Club early Friday morning. The incident began at 12:10 a.m. on 355 West Washington Avenue when a Lake Bluff Police Department officer spotted individuals loading carts into two 26-foot U-Haul trucks. Both vehicles carried Arizona license plates.

Deputy Police Chief Erik Gehrke stated that the suspects saw the patrol car before the officer made contact. The drivers refused to stop when the officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The initial pursuit ended when the vehicles exited the immediate area near Route 176 and Interstate 94. Lake Bluff police broadcast details of the trucks to other agencies via the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network.

Radio traffic indicated that one truck was last seen heading south on the Edens Expressway. The second truck was spotted heading south on Interstate 94 with its rear door open and an empty cargo area. A Cook County Sheriff’s Office helicopter identified one of the vehicles near Ogden Avenue in Chicago at 12:38 a.m. Officers confirmed the identity of the truck using a license plate reader as it traveled in the express lanes of Interstate 94 near 43rd Street.

The helicopter crew tracked the vehicle south on Interstate 94 and onto southbound Interstate 57. The driver maneuvered onto and off the interstate at 111th Street and 127th Street, running a red light at Paulina Street. Police deployed spike strips on the 147th Street exit ramp. The driver reversed on the ramp and drove the wrong way to rejoin southbound Interstate 57.

Markham police staged spike strips at the 159th Street exit, but the truck remained on the interstate. The vehicle turned onto eastbound Interstate 80 and then northbound Interstate 294 before returning to northbound Interstate 57. The driver exited at 119th Street around 1:11 a.m. The truck was abandoned in the 1500 block of West 120th Street in Chicago. Two males exited the vehicle and ran.

One suspect ran south through yards and an alley toward the 12000 block of South Ashland Avenue. The helicopter crew guided ground officers and identified a heat signature under a tarp next to an air conditioning unit. Officers detained that man around 1:18 a.m. He possessed keys to the U-Haul truck. Police lost sight of the second suspect in the 1500 block of West 120th Street.

Chicago police later apprehended the second suspect. Both men are currently held at the Lake Bluff Police Department. Gehrke said charges for burglary, theft, and fleeing to elude are pending. The identities of the suspects have not been released. Police do not believe the suspects successfully stole any golf carts. The second U-Haul truck has not been located. Neither truck had been reported stolen prior to the incident.