Chicago police on Sunday afternoon spotted the hijacked car that struck an officer in the South Loop this weekend as it moved through traffic in the Roseland neighborhood. The driver crashed into another car, drove onto the sidewalk, and then ran from the vehicle with a gun in his hand, prosecutors said Monday.
Cops arrested 18-year-old Dakari Arrington nearby. Prosecutors did not charge him with running over the 23-year-old officer, who suffered a broken leg. Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis said that investigation is still ongoing.
Kalliantasis also said Arrington has never been arrested before.
But, as Cook County Judge John Lyke often said during his years overseeing bail hearings, “Sometimes when you enter the criminal justice system, you don’t start with a single, you hit a grand slam.”
On Saturday, armed hijackers took a gray 2008 Saturn Vue from its owner on the 1100 block of West 113th Place, according to police records. Cops spotted it downtown a few hours later and tried to pull it over.
But its driver sped away from officers, drove onto the curb on the 100 block of East Roosevelt, and struck a cop who was on foot, police said. The driver then sped away from the scene. Chicago Contrarian tweeted video of the incident.
Then, Sunday afternoon, dispatchers sent cops to intercept the stolen car when it popped up on the Far South Side, Kalliantasis said. Officers found it traveling south on Michigan Avenue near 107th Street.
As cops moved in, its driver allegedly collided with the rear end of another car in traffic, then sideswiped the same car as he tried to drive onto the sidewalk. The car came to a stop on the sidewalk and Arrington jumped out of the driver’s seat with a gun in his hand, Kalliantasis said.
He tossed the weapon, which had an extended magazine attached, and a cop picked it up immediately, according to Kalliantasis. Officers caught Arrington and took him into custody.
Kalliantasis told Judge Charles Beach that authorities have not identified Arrington as the driver who struck the officer in the Loop “at this time.” The investigation into that incident is ongoing. Arrington is also not charged with hijacking the stolen car.
But he is charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass to vehicle and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.
Assistant Public Defender Suzin Farber said he lives with his mother and works as a cook at White Castle.
Beach set bail at $100,000, meaning Arrington must post $10,000 to get out of jail. The judge said the gun’s extended magazine and Arrington’s alleged flight in a vehicle and on foot were factors in his bail decision.
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