An attempted ATM theft suspect is in custody after hitting a Cook County sheriff’s deputy with his own squad car and leading police on a chase down the Dan Ryan Expressway on Saturday morning, officials said.
Chicago police said four male suspects got out of a dark-colored Jeep SUV and entered a business in the Gage Park neighborhood’s 2800-block of West 55th Street around 7:15 a.m. The crime was caught on security cameras.
Also Saturday morning, surveillance video also captured the moment masked offenders yanked an ATM out of a gas station using an SUV around 4:55 a.m. at a gas station near in the 7000 block of South Damen Avenue in West Englewood.
CPD says those were at least two confirmed robberies Saturday, as the owner of the West Englewood gas station shared photos of the damage caused by the offenders.
CPD said the suspects tried to steal an ATM. The offenders could be seen on a security camera trying to pry open the ATM, all while the clerk was behind the counter calling police.
After several minutes of trying, CPD said the offenders ran out of the store before fleeing in the Jeep, as police arrived on scene, leading to a chase.
The Jeep then crashed into another SUV in the Little Village neighborhood’s 3100-block of South California Avenue, CPD said. ABC7 cameras captured video of a damaged vehicle there.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said one of its deputies, who was patrolling the perimeter of the nearby Cook County Jail, stopped when he saw the scene of the crash around 7:30 a.m.
As the deputy got out of his squad car, he saw the four suspects flee the scene. One of them pushed past the deputy and jumped into his squad car, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said the deputy tried to pull the suspect from his squad car, but the suspect drove away, hitting the deputy in the process. The injured deputy was taken to Saint Anthony Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
CPD said the three other suspects were taken into custody near the crash scene, but the suspected squad car thief led Chicago police officers and Illinois State Police troopers on a chase down the Dan Ryan Expressway.
ISP deployed spike strips to stop the vehicle on the expressway near 78th Street in the Chatham neighborhood before 8:30 a.m. Police took the driver into custody.
No other injuries were reported, and Area One detectives are investigating. Police recovered three firearms.
Meanwhile, Chicago police are also investigating the nearby earlier ATM theft on South Damen Avenue in West Englewood.
Suspects broke in, took the ATM and got away in a Honda sedan and a Jeep SUV, Chicago police said.
No arrests have been made in connection to the West Englewood theft as CPD has not yet said if the ATM theft incidents were related.
