We’re learning more about the man accused of trying to kill two Chicago police officers while speeding away from a railroad car burglary in Englewood last week. Among the new details: he went to prison for pointing a gun at a Chicago cop while fleeing from police in 2014.
Barry Hayes, 32, has been detained on two counts of attempted murder and additional charges by Judge Luciano Panici Jr., who called him “a danger to any police officer he encounters.”
According to CPD, the case began in the early hours of August 27, when Chicago police joined Norfolk Southern officers for an anti-burglary mission in the 5800 block of South Stewart. It didn’t take long for them to spot people breaking into freight cars. Surveillance officers broadcast descriptions of three vehicles circling the area, including a black Dodge Durango SUV.
A short time later, officers heard gunfire nearby and saw the Durango slam head-on into a marked CPD squad car in an alley, a CPD report said. As those officers moved in, they found Hayes sprawled face down across the front seats. A handgun was on the driver’s floorboard and another on the SUV’s center console, according to a CPD report.
Prosecutors say Hayes had just struck a CPD officer with the SUV, sending the cop onto the hood and then slamming him to the pavement at high speed, causing head and body injuries. Hayes then allegedly accelerated toward a second officer, narrowly missing him and plowing into the officer’s squad car. At least one officer fired shots at the Durango, but no one was hit.
In addition to attempted murder, Hayes faces charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer, aggravated assault of a peace officer, leaving the scene of an accident with injury, and two counts of criminal damage to government property.
Meanwhile, police say another vehicle tied to the burglary crashed into two patrol cars several blocks away. Its driver jumped out while the van was still in gear and was run over by his own vehicle as he tried to escape. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. No charges against him have been announced.
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