Two teens were arrested after a vehicle fled from deputies in Beach Park before being located in Zion and one of the teens, armed with a loaded gun, tried running away on foot Saturday evening.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was on patrol around 7:40 p.m. Saturday when they noticed a speeding vehicle, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The deputy clocked a Toyota Camry traveling nearly 80 mph in a posted 40 mph zone.
The Toyota was traveling northbound on Sheridan Road at Beach Road in Beach Park.
Covelli said the sheriff’s deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Toyota but the driver, a 17-year-old from Beach Park, fled at a high rate of speed.
The teen also turned off the vehicle’s headlights and taillights to make it harder for deputies to see him.
The sheriff’s deputy located the vehicle in a parking lot in the 3300 block of Sheridan Road in Zion.
The driver was quickly taken into custody but a passenger fled on foot, Covelli said.
A sheriff’s deputy chased the passenger, a 17-year-old from Beach Park, on foot and apprehended him.
Covelli said the teen was found to be in possession of a pistol with an extended magazine in his waistband during the arrest.
The passenger was petitioned to juvenile court on the charges of aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, unlawful possession of cannabis and underage possession of alcohol.
He was transported to the Robert W. Depke Juvenile Complex Center in Vernon Hills for a detention hearing.
The driver was petitioned to juvenile court on the charges of aggravated fleeing to elude, aggravated speeding, reckless driving and multiple other traffic violations. He was released to his parent.
A Dodge Dakota that appeared to be traveling with the Toyota also fled during the incident and sheriff’s deputies are working to identify the driver and occupants of that vehicle.