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| Diaz-Soto | Chicago Police Dept |
The man who repeatedly rammed Chicago police cars during a 10-mile chase across the North Side last Tuesday afternoon was under the influence of an intoxicating substance, according to prosecutors.
Gabriel Diaz-Soto, 27, has been charged with multiple felonies in connection with the chase that began after a male bicyclist was reportedly struck by a car near North Avenue and Clark Street around 12:45 p.m.
Police said they tried to pull Diaz-Soto over after he fled the scene of the crash in his 2006 Mazda SUV. When Diaz-Soto saw police behind him on northbound Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton, he slowed down and intentionally backed into a police car that was behind him, a CPD spokesman said.
Diaz-Soto continued northbound on Lake Shore Drive and crashed into another police vehicle just north of Addison Street, according to the spokesman.
pic.twitter.com/96T3NnK33p— Christopher Smith (@chrissmith) August 7, 2018
Diaz-Soto’s car was disabled after he allegedly collided with yet another police SUV at the intersection of Clark Street and Rosemont Avenue in Edgewater—more than 10 miles from the scene of the bicycle accident.
A total of five police officers were treated at hospitals for injuries they received in the collisions, according to CPD. The bicyclist was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for minor injuries. Diaz-Soto was treated and released from St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.
Prosecutors charged Diaz-Soto with five counts of aggravated battery of a police officer; driving under the influence of an intoxicating compound; driving on a suspended license and multiple traffic violations. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.
