A 22-year-old man allegedly led police on a pursuit where he shut his lights off and ran a red light on Randall Road in Lake in the Hills before his car later went airborne and he was arrested.
Edwin Garcia, 22, of Lake in the Hills, was charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing to elude a peace officer, two counts of reckless driving, possession of adult use cannabis in a motor vehicle, failure to yield to emergency vehicle, no registration plate on the front of a vehicle, expired registration, operate uninsured motor vehicle, window tint and speeding.
A police report said officers with the Lake in the Hills Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop around 11:30 p.m. last Thursday in the area of Randall Road and Polaris Drive.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Garcia, who was driving a white 2019 Chevrolet Camaro, failed to stop for officers.
The Chevrolet accelerated to a high rate of speed in excess of 63 mph in a posted 40 mph zone.
The complaint said Garcia drove with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of others when he was speeding with his lights off and ran a red light at Randall Road and Commercial Drive.
At one point during the pursuit, the Chevrolet, which still had its lights off, went airborne near Delaware Drive and Chippewa Trail in Lake in the Hills, the complaint said.
Garcia lives almost directly at that intersection, in the 300 block of Chippewa Trail.
The complaint said the Chevrolet had no front license plate and had a rear license plate that expired in May. He also had expired insurance for the vehicle, which had an illegally tinted front windshield.
The complaint also said Garcia was clocked at 58 mph in a 40 mph construction zone during the chase.
Garcia was taken into custody and transported to the McHenry County Jail on Friday.
He appeared in Initial Appearance Court where McHenry County Judge Cynthia Lamb released him due to the charges being non-detainable under the Illinois SAFE-T Act.
Garcia was ordered not to operate a vehicle without a valid driver’s license and appear in court again on January 21.