A 41-year-old Bolingbrook man has been charged in connection with a 34-minute police pursuit and 90-minute standoff Friday that ended when Aurora police took him into custody near Rush-Copley Medical Center.
The Aurora hospital went on lockdown for almost two hours while the scenario unfolded.
Antonio J. Bazaldua, 41, of the 100 block of Robinhood Lane, Bolingbrook, is charged with two class 4 felony counts of aggravated fleeing police, according to charges filed Monday in Kendall County court. One charge alleges he was traveling at least 21 miles over the speed limit as he fled police. He was also charged with two class A misdemeanors – resisting a peace officer and obstructing identification – and several traffic offenses, including driving on a suspended license, speeding between 26 and 34 miles per hour over the limit and disregarding an official traffic control device.
A new warrant was issued for Bazaldua’s arrest Monday, setting bail at $250,000, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said.
Aurora police have no one in custody by that name, said police spokesman Dan Ferrelli. Bazaldua is also not currently listed in custody at the Kendall County jail.
On Friday, police said charges were pending against the man, who was initially taken to an Aurora hospital for evaluation after the standoff ended when police fired bean bag rounds and used a police dog to apprehend him. On Monday, Ferrelli said the man was still in the hospital.
On March 28, Kendall County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bazaldua in Oswego Township, near Goodwin Drive at Hill Avenue, for allegedly driving on a suspended license after stopping his car for a defective front windshield, according to sheriff’s reports. He was also charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and driving with an obstructed front windshield. A warrant was issued for his arrest March 31, according to court records.
About 2:44 a.m. Friday, an Aurora police sergeant saw him driving a Honda Civic southbound on Hill Avenue near Fifth Avenue on the city’s East Side. The sergeant ran the car’s plate, learned its registered owner – the driver – was wanted on several warrants out of Kendall County and pulled it over at Hill and Goodwin Drive, near the Kendall County line, police said.
The sergeant obtained information from the driver and his passenger, a 38-year-old Aurora woman. As the sergeant was walking back to his squad car to continue investigating, the other car drove away, beginning a pursuit that went through all four counties in which Aurora is located, along with parts of Oswego and Plainfield, police said in a Facebook post.
About 3:04 a.m., the man let the passenger out of the car near Second Avenue and Ohio Street, then continued driving until about 3:21 a.m., when he stopped on Ogden Avenue just west of Waterford Drive near Rush-Copley Medical Center, police said.
At the department’s request, the hospital went on lockdown prompted by police activity near its entrance, Rush-Copley spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said in an email Friday.
Several police cars were involved in the pursuit, which involved a peak speed of up to 80 miles per hour, Ferrelli said.
As the pursuit carried on, police learned the driver, who made continuous statements about hurting himself, may be armed, police said.
The man continued making statements about harming himself after he stopped, when trained negotiators made contact with him on a cellphone, police said. While inside the car, he held an object resembling a pistol to his head, police said. Police later determined the object appeared to be some type of seat belt cutter, and the man was in possession of no other weapons or contraband, Ferrelli said.
About a half-hour after he stopped, the man got out of the car for several minutes, holding his phone in one hand and disobeying orders to take the other hand out of his pocket, then getting back in the car, police said.
Special response teams from Aurora and Naperville isolated the man’s car with Bearcat armored vehicles by 3:57 a.m. as negotiation efforts continued. The man got out again about 4:48 a.m. and again refused orders to show both hands, police said.
Not two minutes later, police said they shot three bean bags at the man, all striking him and knocking him to the ground. Still unsure if the man was armed, police used a trained dog to incapacitate him, biting him in the thigh. Police took him into custody at 4:50 a.m. without further incident, police said.
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The man, who sustained minor injuries from the dog bite and bean bags, was taken to an undisclosed Aurora hospital.
Rush-Copley was on lockdown from about 3:10 to 5 a.m., Satlak said.
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