Police: Arlington Heights man crashed stolen car into cemetery
A 22-year-old Arlington Heights man has been charged after smashing a stolen car into a number of headstones in a West suburban cemetery, just a day after he was sentenced to two years of probation on felony drug charges, police said.
Nicholas Eich of the 1900 block of North Verde Drive entered an Arlington Heights home through an unlocked back door sometime between 1 and 3 a.m. Saturday, grabbed a set of keys and made off with a PT Cruiser, police said.
The Cruiser wasn't seen until about 7:45 p.m. later that night in West suburban Forest Park, where a police officer noticed the vehicle had two separate license plates on it. He ran the plates and one showed up stolen, said Forest Park Deputy Police Chief Tom Aftanas.
“The officer followed him for a while and tried to stop him,” Aftanas said.
Eich then led the officer on a chase for about four blocks until the street dead-ended at Waldheim Cemetery.
“Without slowing down he just drove right into the cemetery,” Aftanas said. “He hit a curb and went into the headstones.”
Eich then sent the PT Cruiser flying through a fence, guardrail and about 200 feet into the cemetery before it came to rest smashed up on its side between headstones, police said.
Surprisingly, Eich walked away unharmed, but was taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn where he remains under psychiatric care, according to police.
“There's quite a bit of damage to the cemetery,” Aftanas said, who did not have a damage estimate Wednesday night.
Eich has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, driving on a revoked license, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, criminal damage to property and numerous other traffic offenses, police said.
He may also be charged with theft of a motor vehicle and residential burglary once out of the hospital, said Arlington Heights Police Sgt. Mike Hernandez.
Police say they believe Eich had previously been in the Arlington Heights home and knew the home's layout, Hernandez said.
Eich pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance on July 29 and was sentenced to two years of probation and 22 days in the Cook County jail, less than 24 hours before he stole the vehicle, according to Daily Herald records.
He was first charged in early July after Cook County sheriff's police, who were investigating a burglary, found him in possession of 25 Vicodin pills, two amphetamine pills, a small amount of heroin and a hypodermic needle, records show.