Multiple law enforcement agencies across the state late Thursday afternoon were still looking for several people who were inside four stolen BMW SUVs and led police on a miles-long pursuit that included the people carjacking a woman with a child in New Lenox earlier in the day.
No one was injured during the ordeal, which began when at least four vehicles were stolen from the Peoria or Springfield area and Illinois State Police troopers and Grundy County sheriff’s officers responded to eastbound I-80 near Morris when the stolen SUVs were seen speeding down the interstate, according to a statement from the State Police.
An Illinois Department of Conservation police officer clocked one of the stolen SUVs at 153 mph near I-39 and I-80, and Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley said his department became involved when the cars were seen speeding down I-39.
Sheriff’s deputies set up spike strips at mile marker 111 on I-80 about 7:30 a.m. and shortly after that, the strips halted three of the four vehicles, but their occupants jumped out and got into the fourth SUV and sped away, according to Briley.
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Around 8 a.m., that SUV came to a stop on I-80 east of I-355 at the edge of southwest suburban New Lenox, and six suspects got out and fled from the vehicle, ran through backyards, and came upon a woman taking her child out of a car in a driveway on Regan Road near Edmonds Avenue, New Lenox police Chief Louis Alessandrini said.
The woman was held at gunpoint, and the suspects got into her GMC Yukon Denali and drove off. There were no injuries to the woman or the child.
The stolen Yukon Denali was later found unoccupied in south suburban Markham about 9 a.m., Alessandrini said.
The four stolen BMW SUVs were recovered but nobody was in custody early Thursday evening.
Illinois State Police Trooper Josh Korando said all agencies involved “have their own investigations ongoing” at this time, including the sheriff’s office and New Lenox police.
“It’s still pretty early in the investigation,” Briley said. “We’re dealing with multiple different agencies and multiple different crimes, so we’re still trying to piece it all together.”