Authorities say a driver fled at “extremely high” rates of speed from officers and then crashed into multiple vehicles after driving down Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach with no lights on.
An officer with the Round Lake Beach Police Department was conducting regular traffic enforcement around 7:31 p.m. on February 21 when he observed a white sedan traveling westbound on Rollins Road.
The vehicle was completely “blacked out” with no headlights or taillights on, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said.
The officer pulled behind the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop but the sedan, later identified as being driven by Edwin L. Maya, 27, of Round Lake, fled at an extremely high rate of speed, McConnell said.
The sedan turned into the parking lot of Casa Jalisco Bar and Grill, 809 West Rollins Road, swerving around multiple parked cars in the restaurant’s parking lot before turning onto Woodridge Drive.
Maya traveled at an extremely high rate of speed and ran a stop sign on the residential street, McConnell said.
Officers terminated the pursuit due to community safety concerns and seconds later, 911 calls were received for a vehicle crash in the 1400 block of Woodridge Drive.
Maya struck multiple parked cars in the driveway and fled on foot, McConnell said. The vehicle was the same one that fled moments earlier.
The white sedan had struck a parked Nissan Sentra at such a high rate of speed that it was pushed into two other cars.
McConnell said the white sedan and the Nissan were both totaled and the third vehicle had to be towed as well due to the force of the impact breaking the rear axle, leaving it undrivable.
Multiple videos allegedly showed Maya as the suspect driver fleeing from the scene.
Officers used drones and canines in an extensive search of the area to locate Maya but were unsuccessful.
McConnell said Maya later came to the Round Lake Beach Police Department the next day and told officers he was unsure why he left the scene the prior night and complained of pain in his legs from the crash.
Maya was charged with aggravated fleeing to elude causing damage, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, leaving the scene of a crash, illegal transportation of alcohol by a driver, failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash, disregarding a stop sign, improper traffic lane usage and headlight taillight violation.
Maya was on probation for a felony drug offense and also had several criminal cases pending at the time of the incident.
McConnell said Maya has been committing new offenses “over and over again” in recent years.
“Particularly with regards to driving and what is specifically concerning about this Defendant’s conduct on February 21st, 2026, is that this Defendant does not have a history of running from the police and this Defendant just got his license cleared on February 13th, 2026, and had a new license issued on February 17th, 2026,” McConnell said.
“That is particularly concerning because that means that there was some other reason that this Defendant fled from the officer, because if this Defendant had simply forgot to turn on his headlights there is absolutely no reason this Defendant should have taken such a dangerous flight from officers leading to him totaling two cars including his own as well as damaging two others, before fleeing the scene of that crash on foot,” McConnell added.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted petitions filed to revoke Maya’s pre-trial release in his prior cases. His latest case is not detainable.
Maya remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday for a status of preliminary hearing.