Chicago men held in Elmhurst burglary, high-speed chase in a stolen car
Two Chicago men are facing charges after they allegedly burglarized a liquor store and led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car Thursday morning, DuPage County prosecutors said.
Michael Harris, 19, and Antwan Ford, 22, are charged with one count of burglary, one count of criminal damage to government property and one count of aggravated fleeing and eluding, prosecutors said.
Harris is also charged with one count of possession of a stolen vehicle as well as multiple misdemeanors, including leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving without a valid driver’s license.
Elmhurst police approached three men who were wearing black masks and hoodies outside Corner Cottage Liquors at 4:47 a.m. after seeing them back a red Alfa Romeo Stelvio and white Dodge Challenger up to the store with the trunks open, prosecutors said. The men then got in both vehicles and fled while officers pursued the Alfa Romeo, allegedly driven by Harris with Ford as a passenger, onto North Avenue.
Officers got their vehicle in front of the Alfa Romeo in an attempt to slow it down and were rear-ended before the car drove into oncoming traffic, prosecutors said. The chase eventually made its way to I-290, where Harris allegedly reached speeds of up to 115 mph, after which police ended the pursuit.
Oak Brook and Oak Park police later tracked the Alfa Romeo to Adams and Austin boulevards in Oak Park — after Oak Brook Police said one of their officers successfully deployed StarChase, a GPS tracking device, onto the vehicle earlier in the pursuit — and two suspects were taken into custody in Oak Park. where it became disabled, prosecutors said.
Harris and Ford then allegedly fled and were arrested, and a handgun was found nearby.
The Alfa Romeo had been reported stolen in Chicago on Oct. 6, prosecutors said. The two are alleged to have smashed the liquor store’s front window and taken eight cartons of cigarettes as well as the cash drawer with about $100 inside.
The two were ordered detained at a hearing Friday and are due back in court Nov. 4.