A St. Louis County man stole a police car Wednesday night, then died after he was shot by officers and run over by two vehicles on Highway 162 in the Metro East, authorities said.
The Illinois State Police identified the dead man as 28-year-old Kyeiree V. Myers. Court records show that Myers lived in the 8200 block of Zoe Drive in Berkeley.
The incident began at 10:52 p.m. Wednesday when a Fairmont City police officer stopped a vehicle on Highway 203 near Collinsville Road in Fairmont City. Authorities didn’t say why police stopped the car.
Myers got out of a vehicle and began walking off, police said. A Washington Park police officer came to help. As the Washington Park police officer got close to Myers, Myers ran and the officer chased after him, authorities said.
Myers and the Washington Park officer got into a fight, police said. Myers broke free and jumped into the Washington Park police vehicle. Myers drove off in the police car, ramming a pillar near the officer.
The Washington Park officer fired shots at Myers, hitting him as he sped off.
Several police agencies were alerted to help search for Myers and the stolen car. The officer’s rifle was still in the car, as was his phone. Police were able to track the police car using the cellphone.
A dispatcher was told that police had fired shots at the fleeing suspect and that the suspect might be bleeding badly.
At about 11 p.m., police found the abandoned patrol car — with blood inside — on Highway 162 at Mockingbird Lane in Granite City.
Around the same time, a Pontoon Beach police car and another passing motorist ran over Myers in the road. He apparently had gotten out of the stolen patrol car, badly injured, and fallen in the road.
He died at the scene.
It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly police realized the person hit in the road was the same man who stole the patrol car. Officers thought the suspect may have ditched the vehicle and escaped into a wooded area. Authorities asked for police dogs to join the search in an area around a storage facility.
Police did not identify the Washington Park officer who fired the shots. Washington Park police Chief Allen Bonds was not available for comment. Pontoon Beach police and the Madison County coroner’s office both declined to talk about what happened and referred a reporter to the Illinois State Police, which is investigating the case.
The state police released no details until some 16 hours later.
