Cross-county chase nabs Wisconsin carjacking suspect; child inside vehicle unharmed

Following a 14-mile chase early Thursday morning on the Tri-State Tollway, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle that had been carjacked in Wisconsin with a 9-year-old boy inside. Sheriff’s officials report the boy was uninjured, and a suspect from Kenosha was arrested.

The sheriff’s office received a call shortly after 2:10 a.m. Thursday from Pleasant Prairie Police Department regarding a vehicular hijacking report at a gas station in the 7500 block of 118th Avenue in Pleasant Prairie, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Christopher Covelli.

Covelli said officials were told a 9-year-old boy was inside the vehicle when it was stolen, and Lake County Sheriff’s deputies immediately began checking Interstate 94 for the vehicle, described as a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Deputies reportedly located the vehicle at about 2:20 a.m. in the area of I-94 and Route 22 in Lincolnshire, and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The driver fled from sheriff’s deputies eastbound on I-94, according to reports.

Covelli said the car was pursued by deputies in two sheriff’s patrol cars, and the pursuit was eventually joined by Illinois State Police before the car was stopped on I-294 north of Touhy Avenue in Des Plaines, where the driver was taken into custody.

Michael E. Newhouse, 58, of the 2900 block of 73rd Street in Kenosha, was arrested without further incident, according to sheriff’s reports.

The boy was found to be safe in the vehicle, and he was reunited with his family, Covelli said.

Newhouse was charged with two counts of felony aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated reckless driving, also a felony, and endangering the life of a child, a Class A misdemeanor.

He also faces numerous traffic charges as a result of the chase, Covelli said, adding that additional charges may be pending in Wisconsin and Lake County.

Covelli said the 9-year-old, his father and older brother had just flown into Chicago from California and were on the way to the Milwaukee area to visit relatives in a rental car when the incident occurred.

The father pulled into the gas station at Pleasant Prairie and entered the service station to buy snacks with his 14-year-old son. The 9-year-old boy was asleep in the car, which was left running so the air conditioning would stay on for him, Covelli said.

The car was then stolen with the child asleep in the back seat.

Covelli praised deputies for locating and successfully pursuing the car, leading to the arrest and no injuries.

He said deputies “obviously knew” they were chasing a stolen car with a child inside and “the number-one priority was the safety and well-being of the child.”

“The Sheriff’s Office is very grateful that the child was found safe and uninjured,” he said.

Newhouse is being held at the Lake County Jail on $250,000 bail with a court appearance scheduled July 29.

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