As she sped south on the Tri-State Tollway on Wednesday, Vernon Hills patrol Officer Diane Wesley dodged cars, campers and clothes.
Yes, clothes. Suits, slacks and coats.
The coats were being tossed out of a fleeing Ford Taurus containing two men suspected of shoplifting at the Burlington Coat Factory in Libertyville, police said.
“They were trying to get rid of the evidence,” said Vernon Hills Police Chief Gary Kupsak.
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Wesley began her pursuit of the late model rental car after spotting a vehicle that matched a description sent out on the emergency radio network shared by Vernon Hills and Libertyville police. The officer spied the car as it turned east onto Town Line Road from Milwaukee Avenue.
“They made the first traffic light, then ran the second light, at Bradley Road, and got on the tollway,” Kupsak said.
After they threw out the clothes, Kupsak said, the driver exited at Illinois Highway 22 near Lincolnshire. There, the driver lost control and the car hit another car just west of the exit, Kupsak said.
After the crash, Wesley pursued the driver as he fled across a field, Kupsak said. The suspect in the passenger seat was stunned with a head injury sustained in the crash, Kupsak said.
The driver fled, but was arrested a short time later in the lobby of the Hawthorne Suites Hotel just west of the tollway in Lincolnshire, he said.
Both suspects were taken to Highland Park Hospital where they were treated and later released for minor head injuries, Kupsak said.
Charges were pending Wednesday in Libertyville and Vernon Hills.