NEWPORT TOWNSHIP (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A late afternoon police chase that began in Wisconsin ended with a crash and fatality in Lake County.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the two-car accident occurred around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, on Route 173 and Kilbourne Road, in far north suburban Newport Township.
The incident, police said, stemmed from a failed police stop in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. There, police spotted a stolen Lexus and attempted to pull over its driver, a 32-year-old man from Salem, Wisconsin. But, the suspect fled, speeding away.
Pleasant Prairie Police officers began to chase the Lexus and deployed a tire deflation device near Russell, Illinois, on Kilbourne and Russell Roads. Despite blowing out one of Lexus’ tires, the suspect kept driving.
Police stopped their pursuit of the suspect near Kilbourne and Hickory Roads, with the Lexus continuing to recklessly speed south.
Soon thereafter, nearly a mile south, the chase came to an end. The Sheriff’s Office said the Lexus ran a red light and slammed into a GMC Yukon SUV in the intersection.
The suspect was killed. The Lake County Sheriff’s have yet to reveal his identity.
A 51-year-old passenger of the Yukon was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. The 30-year-old driver of the Yukon and six other passengers in the car, ranging in age from 8 to 28, all suffered non-life threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said. Several of the passengers were hospitalized.
The driver of the Lexus had a revoked driver’s license and an active warrant in Lake County, officials said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team will continue to investigate the crash.
The Chicago Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.