Fiery Crash, Drugs Found Following Call Of Gunman In Skokie, Authorities Say

SKOKIE, IL — Officers found a single round of ammunition and a significant amount of drugs in a fleeing man's fanny pack following a fiery crash and brief chase in Skokie, authorities said.

Travis Taylor, 34, of the 4100 block of North Tripp Avenue, Chicago, has been charged with two class X drug dealing felonies and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, as well as misdemeanor fleeing police and failure to give information after hitting people's cars, according to police and prosecutors.

Taylor was denied pretrial release at a detention hearing Thursday afternoon, as a judge granted prosecutors' request to order him detained at the Cook County Jail while awaiting trial.

Around 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, police were called to a home in the 8900 block of Niles Center Road for a domestic disturbance involving a man with a gun.

When officers arrived, they spotted Taylor running out of the back of the home and across the street before jumping into a Dodge Avenger registered to another person, Assistant State's Attorney Colin DeBrabander said at the hearing.

---

Taylor then reversed down Grove Street and struck a tree before heading south on Knox Avenue, according to the prosecutor.

Skokie police pursued the Dodge, which eventually struck a BMW and another car while headed west on Dempster Street at Skokie Boulevard. Both the BMW and the Dodge caught fire due to the collision, DeBrabander said.

Taylor jumped out of the car and fled south into a parking lot at 4800 Carol St., police said, where officers took him into custody and seized the fanny pack he was carrying.

Inside the crossbody bag, police found more than 94 grams of cocaine and more than 173 grams of methamphetamine. They also found a single 9mm round of live ammunition, according to DeBrabander.

"Officers also recovered two bags from the gray Dodge Avenger that contained an unknown amount of suspect narcotics that were sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for testing," DeBrabander said.

Neither of the two drivers of vehicles that Taylor crashed into were injured, Skokie Police Deputy Chief Denise Franklin told Patch.

In addition to the two hit-and-run traffic offenses and the misdemeanor fleeing to elude, Taylor now faces two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver — one for the cocaine and one for the methamphetamine — charges that carry a minimum sentence of six years in state prison.

---

Prosecutors argued that Taylor poses a danger to the community and a high likelihood of flight.

In 2021, Taylor was convicted of manufacturing or delivery of cocaine and aggravated fleeing and eluding and sentenced to four years in state prison. Nearly a decade earlier, he was convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated fleeing and eluding.

His public defender argued for house arrest and said he pledged to show up to every court date.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese cited the "serious nature of the criminal enterprise" and Taylor's criminal history in addition to the "extraordinary facts" of the circumstances leading to his most recent arrest.

"I believe that given all those facts and circumstances, and the particular background of the defendant, that the only least restrictive condition to assure the safety of the community is to have the defendant remain in custody," Calabrese said.

Taylor is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 11.