A Waukegan man is being held in Lake County Jail and awaiting a detention hearing on charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and fleeing police, authorities said.
Prosecutors in Lake County First Appearance Court said officers were called to the 1000 block of Green Bay Road on June 4 after someone identified a person sleeping in a vehicle.
Officers approached the vehicle and found a person later identified as Nathaniel K. Sumlin, of Waukegan, asleep in the car.
Prosecutors said fresh damage was noticed to the front of the vehicle as officers approached.
The man sleeping behind the wheel – later identified as Sumlin – woke up when officers knocked on his window, prosecutors said.
Rather than getting out of the car, prosecutors said Sumlin started the vehicle and drove off.
Police gave chase and saw the vehicle crash into several vehicles before finally stopping in the roadway.
Sumlin tried to run from police but he was taken into custody trying to jump a fence, prosecutors said in court.
Sumlin was taken from the scene to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with unknown injuries, prosecutors said.
While Sumlin was at the hospital, officers found out the car had been reported stolen.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office officially charged Sumlin with a class 2 felony of possession of a stolen vehicle, and misdemeanor counts of driving on a suspended license and fleeing police.
Prosecutors also requested Lake County Associate Judge Paul B. Novak revoke Sumlin’s pretrial release for a previous 2023 case where he was charged with a class two felony for aggravated battery of a police officer and a class three felony for theft.
Lake County Associate Judge Paul B. Novak ordered Sumlin held in Lake County Jail until a detention hearing Monday afternoon.