A prisoner being transported in a police car escaped in Deerfield and carjacked two motorists before being taken into custody following a pursuit in Wisconsin.
Two Park Ridge police officers were transporting a male prisoner to the Lake County Jail around 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The man was wanted on a Lake County warrant.
Officers noticed the offender “acting erratically” in the back seat while en route to the jail, according to Park Ridge Police Department Executive Officer Tom Gadomski.
The officers also noticed the offender, who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, had slipped the handcuffs in front of him.
The officers pulled their squad car over on the shoulder of northbound Interstate 294 near Lake Cook Road in Deerfield.
The officers advised dispatch of their location and requested assistance from Illinois State Police due to the offender’s behavior.
Gadomski said the officers were attempting to re-secure the offender and de-escalate his behavior when he broke free.
Officers used a taser on the offender but it was ineffective.
The offender ran across the northbound lanes of traffic, jumped over the concrete barrier and continued to run into the southbound lanes.
The offender approached a maroon-colored Ford van that had stopped in the southbound lanes and the suspect physically forced the driver out of the vehicle.
The offender drove off in the Ford van and fled from the Park Ridge officers.
Gadomski said the offender was in the area of Lake Cook Road and Caribou Crossing in Northbrook around 3:20 p.m.
He exited the Ford van and proceeded to commit a second carjacking where he took a white Chevrolet Camaro by physical force from its owner.
Police were able to locate the Chevrolet through the vehicle’s OnStar locator service, Gadomski said.
The vehicle was tracked to southbound Interstate 94 in Kenosha County. The Wisconsin State Police located, stopped and apprehended the offender.
He was taken into custody and is being held for further investigation, Gadomski said.