Prosecutors say a vehicle, which had two children passengers inside, went airborne during a police pursuit in Waukegan that ended with the suspect driver abandoning the children to flee on foot.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Vukovich said officers were on patrol around 10:35 a.m. on May 1 near Massena Avenue and Chestnut Street in Waukegan.
They spotted the driver of a silver 2005 Acura on his cellphone and the car also had an expired registration.
Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop and the vehicle fled, driving through a stop sign and accelerating speed, Vukovich said.
The vehicle was traveling at such a high rate of speed that it went airborne.
Vukovich said the car landed and the officers saw a large amount of smoke. It is believed the force of the landing damaged the undercarriage of the car.
Officers terminated the pursuit due to safety concerns but located the car a minute later and attempted to initiate a second traffic stop.
The driver, Daniel R. Martinez, 31, of Waukegan, stopped the vehicle and fled on foot, Vukovich said.
Officers arrested Martinez two blocks away. Officers saw two young children, ages one and three, inside the car that he was driving.
Martinez told officers he fled because his driver’s license was revoked.
“All that the defendant cared about was himself and not being caught for driving with a revoked license again,” Vukovich said.
This was his sixth offense for driving on a revoked or suspended license. He was also on parole.
Martinez was charged with aggravated fleeing to elude, driving on a revoked or suspended license, child endangerment and several traffic offenses.
Court records show Martinez was also on pre-trial release for aggravated assault and criminal trespass to land charges out of Waukegan.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to revoke Martinez’s pre-trial release in his prior case and a petition to detain him in the new case.
Lake County Judge Ari Fisz granted both petitions and ordered Martinez held in the Lake County Jail.
The judge said he found it “particularly disturbing” that Martinez drove recklessly with his children in the car and that he abandoned them to flee on foot from officers.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 20.