He was desperate to get away…
A prisoner who escaped from custody in Illinois eventually ended up in a stolen Chevy Camaro in Wisconsin, leading police on a crazy high-speed chase. While we understand the man’s choice of getaway vehicle, it was also his ultimate undoing since the American muscle car is outfitted with OnStar, which brought the chase to a slow crawl and eventual stop.
Driver tells police his car was stolen after being caught speeding. Read more here.
According to a report from WISN, the whole sequence of chases began when the inmate was being transported in the back of a cruiser by two Park Ridge, Illinois police officers to Lake County Jail on July 15 when the man slipped out of his handcuffs.
They were traveling on I-294 at the time and decided to pull over and cuff the prisoner again. That proved to be a bad idea because the guy was able to break free and make a run for it across traffic on the interstate.
Running up to a van, the unarmed prison was able to force the driver out, carjacking him in a fairly unusual way. He led police on a chase and at some point decided a Camaro he saw was a much better getaway car. Normally we’d agree, but the OnStar feature is a big drawback for carjacking someone.
Police were able to use OnStar at first to track the location of the Camaro and then to slow its speed just as it crossed the Wisconsin border. We don’t know what the prisoner was being transported to jail for, but we can safely say he’s probably facing at least a few more charges after his short-lived getaway attempt.
While this might seem like a great ad for OnStar, it should be noted other automakers offer similar services. Also, we recommend just keeping your doors locked while on the highway and surface streets.
