Stolen Infiniti hits 140 mph in Chicago chase ending in North Chicago
Three people were taken into custody after a stolen sedan fled state troopers and sped through the city for two hours.
By Javier Sanders ·
A stolen black 2011 Infiniti G37 was stopped in North Chicago after a two-hour chase that included speeds reaching 140 mph.
The vehicle initially fled from an Illinois State Police trooper on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago around 1:22 a.m. on October 10. Radio traffic indicated the car was traveling at approximately 130 mph before emergency lights were activated. The driver briefly left the expressway to drive on Halsted Street and Vincennes Avenue, sometimes with the headlights off, before rejoining the Dan Ryan southbound at over 100 mph. A trooper attempted a traffic stop near 71st Street around 1:31 a.m., but the Infiniti did not stop. The trooper did not pursue the vehicle, and it was later confirmed to be stolen.
The chase continued as the state police aircraft tracked the car through the Far South Side. The driver pulled into a warehouse parking lot near 122nd Street and Avenue O around 1:49 a.m., where a group of cars was performing donuts. When troopers entered the lot with lights on around 1:55 a.m., the Infiniti, which had been backed in behind a semitrailer, took off. The aircraft crew reported the driver nearly crashed head-on into another vehicle on Torrance Avenue before heading north on the Dan Ryan and Kennedy expressways at about 90 mph. The car then traveled north on the Edens Expressway, exited at Dundee Road in Northbrook around 2:29 a.m., and immediately turned south, reaching 140 mph near Willow Road.
The driver navigated through Chicago’s Northwest Side and Niles before joining Interstate 294 northbound at Golf Road around 2:48 a.m. The vehicle exceeded 130 mph on the Tri-State Tollway before crossing into Lake County near Lake Cook Road around 2:51 a.m. It stayed on Interstate 94 northbound at roughly 130 mph past Half Day Road and Route 60 before exiting at Buckley Road around 2:57 a.m. The car then headed east toward North Chicago. A Cook County Sheriff’s Police helicopter also tracked the vehicle, relaying its location to North Chicago officers over a statewide radio channel. Flight-tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the sheriff’s helicopter over Chicago’s South Side by 1:24 a.m. and circling over North Chicago until around 3:08 a.m.
North Chicago Police Department Assistant Chief Gary Lunn stated that the department became aware of the situation around 3 a.m. The Infiniti turned onto Christian Avenue and Argonne Drive before heading north on Jackson Street. Officers moved in to stop the vehicle in the 1000 block of North Jackson Street shortly after 3 a.m. The state police aircraft crew reported that all doors opened once the car stopped. Three individuals were taken into custody and turned over to Illinois State Police: a 19-year-old man, a 15-year-old girl, and an 18-year-old woman.
Leodani L. Abarca, 19, was charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer and one count of aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle. It was not immediately known if the other two occupants faced charges. A trooper at the scene reported that the Infiniti had keys but no license plates. The vehicle showed light dents and scratches, and its sunroof appeared to have been replaced and covered in tape.
The pursuit began when the dark-colored car was spotted in the southbound express lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway near Garfield Boulevard. The initial high speed and the subsequent evasion of the traffic stop set the stage for the long journey through multiple Chicago expressways and into Lake County. The coordination between state police aircraft and the sheriff’s helicopter allowed for continuous tracking until the final stop in North Chicago.
