Weapons charges have been filed against two teenagers after authorities say they led officers on multiple police pursuits in Lake County following the shooting of two women in Beach Park.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2 a.m. Sunday to the area of Green Bay Road and Bonnie Brook Lane in Beach Park following a report of a vehicle crash and a shooting.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said deputies arrived and located a vehicle in a ditch with extensive damage.
Two adult female passengers in the vehicle had sustained gunshot wounds. One was shot in the eye and the other was shot in the leg.
A responding deputy applied a tourniquet to the woman’s leg, helping save her life, Covelli said.
Both women were transported to area hospitals and are expected to survive.
The woman shot in the leg has since been released and the woman shot in the eye remains hospitalized as of Monday but is improving.
A preliminary investigation revealed the victims had left a bar in North Chicago and were driving home on Green Bay Road when a grey Dodge pulled up alongside their vehicle, Covelli said.
Occupants of the Dodge then opened fire on the victims’ vehicle. Deputies later recovered several spent shell casings in the area.
Lake County sheriff dispatchers issued a regional broadcast with information about the suspect vehicle.
A Waukegan police officer approximately 30 minutes later spotted a grey Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat matching the description of the suspect vehicle, Covelli said.
When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Sunset Avenue, the driver fled at a high rate of speed and evaded them.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy around 2:41 a.m. located the suspect vehicle traveling southbound on Route 41 near Route 173 in Wadsworth.
Covelli said the deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver fled again at a high speed.
The deputy pursued the vehicle, which made a U-turn at Stearns School Road and traveled northbound on Route 41 at a high rate of speed.
The suspect ultimately evaded the deputy due to excessive speed.
Another sheriff’s deputy spotted the vehicle traveling eastbound on Route 173 and initiated a pursuit a short time later, Covelli said.
The driver again evaded the deputy at a high rate of speed.
A Zion police officer deployed a tire deflation device, successfully striking the vehicle as it continued eastbound on Route 173.
The driver temporarily maintained high speeds and again evaded officers before crashing into a heavily wooded area near Route 173 and Joanna Avenue in Zion, Covelli said.
Sheriff’s deputies, Zion police officers, and Waukegan police officers established a perimeter as the occupants fled from the Dodge.
Police canines and drones were deployed to assist in the search.
Sheriff’s deputies and officers located and apprehended Jonathan Garcia, 18, of Waukegan, and a 16-year-old Waukegan boy.
A rifle and pistol were recovered from the Dodge and an additional pistol was found in a backyard near where one of the offenders was captured, Covelli said.
Detectives believe there was a third person, who was driving the Dodge, who avoided apprehension.
They are working to verify the information and identify and apprehend the suspect.
The Dodge was reported to be stolen from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
Covelli said in an update Monday that Garcia was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
The 16-year-old boy, whose identity is being withheld, was also charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Garcia is scheduled to appear in First Appearance Court on Monday morning and prosecutors are filing a petition to detain him pending trial.
The juvenile was transported to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Center and a hearing will take place to determine if the boy will be held in secure detention.
The two suspects captured have not been charged in connection with the shooting but additional charges are possible.
“Lake County Sheriff’s detectives are actively investigating the incident, reviewing all of the evidence obtained, while seeking additional evidence,” Covelli said.