Escaped Prisoner Carjacked 2 Vehicles, Caught In Kenosha County: Police

NORTHBROOK, IL — A prisoner being transported by police escaped his handcuffs, carjacked two vehicles and fled from Chicago's northern suburbs to the state line, before he was apprehended in Kenosha County, according to authorities.

The incident started around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, when two Park Ridge officers were moving Wesley R. Anderson, a prisoner wanted on a warrant, to the Lake County jail, police said.

The officers noticed Anderson acting erratically, pulled over their squad car on northbound Interstate 294 at mile marker 52 in Northbrook, and requested help from state police, according to authorities.

Anderson broke free while the officers were trying to secure him and de-escalate the situation, police said, adding a Taser was ineffective and Anderson ran across lanes of traffic, jumped a concrete barrier and forced a driver on the interstate out of a Ford van, fleeing in the vehicle.

He then ditched the van around 3:15 p.m. in the area of Lake Cook Road and Caribou Crossing in Northbrook and highjacked a Chevrolet Camaro by physical force, according to police.

Authorities used OnStar to find the Camaro, which was along southbound Interstate 94 in Kenosha County, police said.

Anderson was “quickly greeted by some squad cars awaiting his arrival” in Wisconsin, Pleasant Prairie police posted on social media. He was taken into custody and his vehicle was shut down due to a collaborative effort by municipal, county and state authorities, as well as OnStar, police said.

Anderson was brought to a hospital for medical clearance, where he tried unsuccessfully to overpower two Kenosha County deputies and escape again, according to the sheriff's department, which said he remains in Kenosha County jail.

Anderson is charged with first-degree reckless endangering, battering an officer, attempting to disarm an officer, fleeing an officer, driving a vehicle without consent, and multiple outstanding felony warrants, police said.

"Maybe one day, Illinois criminals will realize it is best to stay out of Kenosha County," the sheriff's department said in a social media post.