Chicago police found three guns inside a stolen pickup truck that slammed into a statue in Lincoln Park early Monday morning and arrested four men who ran from the vehicle as cops moved in. The truck was used in a shooting in Lakeview over the weekend, and police are now trying to determine if any of the men or weapons are linked to other crimes.
Police have been looking for the Dodge Ram since Saturday morning when a gunman stepped out of it and shot toward another driver in the 1600 block of West Belle Plaine. No one was injured in that incident, but the police said at least five shots were fired.
A CPD license plate reader spotted the truck heading north on Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton around 9:40 p.m. Sunday. Officers saw it speeding around the area of Berteau and Damen a short time later, too, according to police radio transmissions.
Police received a flurry of shots fired calls in North Center, Lincoln Square, and Lakeview a short time later, and officers radioed a handful of encounters with the stolen Ram as it traveled around the area.
Finally, at 1:26 a.m., officers tried to pull the truck over near Diversey and Sheridan in Lakeview. Instead of pulling over, the driver sped away, jumped a curb, and slammed into the enormous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Monument near Diversey and Cannon Drive on the border of Lincoln Park and Lakeview, according to CPD.
Chicago police units were on the scene immediately and arrested four men who bailed out of the heavily damaged truck. Officers said they found three guns, including at least one rifle, in the wreckage.
Police arrested a 28-year-old man, a 22-year-old man, and two 18-year-old men, all of whom live on the Northwest Side, according to CPD records. One of the 18-year-olds was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center for treatment of unspecified injuries.
Police records show that the Dodge pickup was reported stolen on November 12 from near Midway Airport.
CWBChicago will post an update if prosecutors approve charges against any of the men.