Crime & Safety
Armed Violence Charge Filed Over Crash Of Fleeing Stolen Car With A Gun Inside In Glencoe
A 22-year-old Dixmoor man faces five felony charges after fleeing police in a stolen car early Wednesday.
GLENCOE, IL — A south suburban man who crashed a stolen car while fleeing police in Glencoe is set to appear in court Friday afternoon in Skokie.
Daimon Stephenson, 22, of the 14000 block of Ashland Avenue, Dixmoor, was arrested after an officer began investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle in a neighboring town around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the Glencoe Public Safety Department.
Police said the officer spotted a silver sedan with no rear license plate on Sheridan Road with its door open, as well as a black SUV at the intersection of Sheridan and Lapier Street — both of which turned out to be stolen.
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A masked man then jumped into one of the cars and drove it away south on Sheridan Road at high speeds, leading the Glencoe officer to determine it was no longer safe to pursue it, department officials said.
As the search of the area continued, an officer spotted one of the stolen cars turn off Green Bay Road onto Linda Lane, a dead end.
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Police said the driver ignored an officer's command to get out of the car and instead tried to flee again.
Instead, the motorist crashed into a tree and ran away, leaving behind a loaded gun, according to police.
He managed to get as far as Crescent Drive — nearly 1 kilometer to the southeast of the first crash site — where officer got a report of someone matching the description of the fleeing driver.
The other stolen car was later recovered in the 200 block of East 115th Street in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood.
Prosecutors later approved charges of armed violence, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, criminal damage to government property and aggravated fleeing causing more than $300 in damage.
Armed violence, having a gun while committing another serious crime other than a gun crime, is a class X felony — the most serious crime short of murder in Illinois law. A conviction for it carries with it a mandatory six-year prison sentence.
Stephenson appeared in court Friday afternoon.
UPDATE: Man With Gun Who Fled Glencoe Cops, Crashed Was On Gun Probation At The Time: Prosecutors
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