Man Drove Through Playground After Fighting, Fleeing Cops: Prosecutors

EVANSTON, IL — Two Evanston cops were injured and a local parolee is back behind bars after a confrontation and chase last week in Twiggs Park, authorities said.

Demontre Eason, 23, turned himself in Tuesday to face charges of aggravated battery to a police officer and various traffic offenses in connection with the incident, according to police and prosecutors.

Around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 7, a pair of plainclothes police officers were investigating "drug presence and open alcohol" in the 1700 block of Payne Street, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Joseph DiBello said at Eason's initial court appearance in Skokie.

The two officers spokes to Eason, who appeared to be drinking alcohol on public property. He volunteered to pour out his drink and provided police with his driver's license, DiBello said.

Citing officer safety, the cops patted down Eason's fanny pack, and felt a "hard L-shaped object which was consistent with a firearm," according to the prosecutor.

When the cops asked Eason to put his arms behind his back, he pushed one of them and punched the other before taking off running, DiBello said. Following the fisticuffs, he managed to get into a Lincoln Town Car and flee.

"And judge, he then entered a playground with that vehicle and passed through the park before getting back onto the roadway," DiBello said.

"[Eason] almost struck pedestrians while doing so," he said. "[He] then, in addition, struck a parked vehicle."

The fleeing Lincoln caused more than $2,000 damage to one parked car, ran several stop signs and drove in the wrong direction in an incident partially captured on city-owned public safety cameras, authorities said.

One officer suffered a lacerated chin from being punched in the face, while the other had a sprained ankle from the foot chase, prosecutors said.

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Eason was convicted of a 2017 armed robbery charge and sentenced to 10 years in state prison before being paroled in June 2022, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

He made arrangements through his defense attorney, Tom Verdun, to turn himself in after learning that police were looking for him, the attorney said.

Circuit Judge Lorraine Murphy set the cash portion of Eason's bond at $10,000, citing the injuries to the officers and fact that he was still on parole for a class X felony at the time of the new charges.

State prison officials have separately filed a parole hold. Eason is due back in court Sept. 17 for a preliminary hearing on the new charges.