Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Beach Park man after he was involved in a fiery crash near Waukegan moments after he allegedly pointed a gun at another vehicle and threatened to shoot the driver.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 10:20 p.m. Friday to a call of a single-vehicle crash on Delany Road north of Yorkhouse Road in unincorporated Waukegan.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the vehicle, a Ford Mustang, down an embankment engulfed in flames, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The driver of the vehicle, Joseph Ebler, 28, of the 11300 block of West Wadsworth Road in Beach Park, fled from the scene on foot.
Sheriff’s deputies located him nearby a short time later.
Covelli said that Ebler was uncooperative with deputies, appeared impaired and sustained minor injuries in the crash.
It was learned that Ebler had just been involved in a traffic altercation with a 40-year-old Gurnee man in the area of Wadsworth Road and Delany Road in Wadsworth.
Ebler brandished a pistol and threatened to shoot the victim while the two were stopped at a stoplight, Covelli said.
The victim fled southbound in his vehicle and Ebler allegedly followed him, pulled up next to him and pointed the firearm toward him.
Ebler then lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the embankment.
Sheriff’s deputies did not find a gun on Ebler when they were speaking with him so Lake County Sheriff’s Canine Dax was called to the scene.
Dax conducted an article search and located Ebler’s firearm, a Glock 29, approximately 150 feet from his vehicle in the area he initially fled, Covelli said.
Ebler was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.
Ebler remains held in the Lake County Jail pending an initial bond hearing Saturday morning.