Though Foot Chase Ends in Arrest, One Tire Thief Gets Away

Officers were called to a local auto business early Friday, where an out-of-state witness said he was watching two men steal tires off of cars. One of the alleged thieves was arrested but the second, eluded police.

They got to CarMax, 18800 S. Oak Park Ave. in , around 4:45 a.m., according to the report. Their tip came from the company's Virginia headquarters where a loss prevention agent was watching surveillance footage of the local parking lot.

Both burglars ran northwest toward Interstate 80 when police arrived, the report said, and left behind two Cadillac Escalades with wooden blocks where their tires once were.

One of the vehicles had a 8-ton hydraulic bottle jack beneath it. Police also found a bag with four Cadillac center caps, a bolt cutter, a glove, a hand warmer, the black metal portion of a 2-ton trolley jack, a tire iron and a socket wrench, the report said. Eight 20-inch rims and tires were strewn about the parking lot. 

Around 5 a.m., an officer found one of the suspects hiding under the overpass of Oak Park Avenue at I-80. 

"I ordered the suspect to stand and place his hands on a fence that is by the overpass as I told him he was under arrest," the report said. "The suspect complied initially, but then lunged toward me and ran east toward Ridgeland Avenue."

The officer pulled the trigger on a Taser but was "not sure if the Taser prongs made contact with the suspect since he continued to run." K-9 Officer Bob Diorio brought his dog, Thor, to the scene but wasn't able to find the suspect, police said. However, around 6 a.m., Diorio found the second suspect, Clifton Hart, and brought him to the .

Hart, 21, of the 200 block of Detroit Street in Hammond, Ind., refused to write a statement about the incident but told police he stole the tires to pay rent, according to the report.

"He indicated that the state's attorney should consider the fact that the did not damage the cars," the report said. "He stated that we 'just took them off.' He refused to indicate who he was with in the parking lot."

Clifton told police he was trying to help his accomplice to "make some money," police said. He was charged with one felony count of theft. Preliminary estimates showed that each tire was worth about $500, according to the report. 

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