Crime & Safety

Witnesses: Stolen Dealership Van Ran Red Lights to Evade Police During Chase

Three individuals were involved in the theft of a cargo van from a Lisle car dealership Wednesday morning. Patch readers provide accounts of the car chase that led police through Downers Grove.

Police are still looking for three suspects involved in the theft of a luxury cargo van that led Lisle police on a Wednesday morning.

Police say the suspects entered the lot at Bill Kay Chevrolet, 601 Ogden Ave., Lisle, as prospective buyers. Two of the individuals inspected a gold 2012 Chevrolet Express Van, when it is believed they obtained one of the van’s keys when they asked to start the vehicle. A third suspect got into the van and drove off when employees attempted to confront the driver.

The car dealership is less than a quarter mile from Interstate 355. An officer responding to the dealership tried to stop the van as it traveled eastbound on Ogden Avenue, but it exited onto the southbound ramp. Several police cars pursued the van as it continued on a winding route through Downers Grove.

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A handful of Patch readers spotted the van during its attempt to elude police.

John Schofield was headed westbound on 63rd Street and stopped at the intersection at Woodward Avenue.

Find out what's happening in Lislewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The van was eastbound… swerved into the westbound lanes around cars stopped at the light, ran the red light, and proceeded eastbound,” he said.

Schofield said a Lisle police car was close behind, “and somewhat later by several others.”

Nicole Johnson encountered the van shortly after. She was also headed westbound with her one-year-old daughter when the van “blew through the light at 63rd Street and I-355.”

"The van exited I-355 and I could tell by his speed that maybe he wasn't going to stop," she said. "I was able to slam on my brakes and swerve from the left to right lane to avoid a collision."

She watched a police car follow the van as it re-entered the interstate. Johnson said the experience left her so shaken, she had to pull over to calm down.

Another observer watched several police cars travel north on Main Street before heading west onto 55th Street. Police lost sight of the van at Main and 55th streets in Downers Grove, according to a release from the department.

Lynn Hudoba said police were not behind when the gold van passed her heading west on 55th Street, around .

“It sped by me and went into the eastbound lanes to pass cars that were in the left lane,” Hudoba recalled. By the time she reached the intersection at Belmont Avenue, she said the van was gone.

Police recovered the abandoned vehicle near Lemont Wednesday afternoon with the assistance of the Will County Sheriff’s Department, according to the release. A subsequent search for the suspects was unsuccessful. The vehicle was impounded at the .

Lisle police Watch Commander Ron Wilke said the department believes the suspects parked across the street and entered the lot on foot. The two individuals who initially acquired the van’s key likely left in another vehicle shortly before the van was driven off the lot, though police can't point to a specific vehicle, he said.

Police were en route to a "suspicious incident" call at the dealership when the van was reported stolen.

"They didn't pull into the lot with any car or anything, which should have made them initially suspicious, and I believe it did," he said.

 

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