CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A well-known community activist is being credited with chasing down a suspected hit-and-run driver and holding him for Chicago police.
Activist Andrew Holmes said he was sitting at a stoplight at Austin and the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) around 1:45 p.m. Sunday when he saw a car speeding off the expressway.
"He was flying too fast.....I said he's going to hit something. Before I know it, he had hit two cars," Holmes said.
Holmes said the driver of the speeding car jumped out of the car and began to run away, first running north on Austin and then heading east across Columbus Park. Holmes followed first in his car, and then parked his car and chased the suspect on foot through the park.
"I just started jogging through the park behind him. I just said, you know what? I ain’t going to let this guy get away. ‘Cause these peoples was in the car hurt. The cars were smoking," Holmes said.
He said he finally caught up to the suspect in an alley past Loretto Hospital.
"The first thing that came out of his mouth is, 'What did I do? I said, sir do me a favor. I said, kneel down. Just keep your hands up. Just kneel down. Keep your hands up. 'Who are you?' I’m activist Holmes. I’m making a citizens arrest," Holmes said.
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Holmes said he had been on the phone for a portion of the chase with a Chicago 911 dispatcher and stayed on the phone with the dispatcher until the suspect was detained and a Chicago police officer arrived.
Chicago police said the suspect is 33-years old and that charges are pending.
Police said the man had been driving a Hyundai Elantra when he exited the expressway and hit a car. Police said two people in that second car, a woman and a juvenile, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Loyola Univerity Medical Center. Police said the suspect was taken to Loretto Hospital.
Holmes said that when he went back to the original crash scene, state police were there. That's when he learned the suspected hit and run driver had allegedly hit a truck on I-290 before exiting the expressway and hitting the car.