Man leads police on chase with toddler onboard

SPRINGFIELD, — A Springfield man is in custody after he hijacked a sport utility vehicle with a 19-month old girl inside and led police on a chase that reached 100 mph, police said. The child was not injured.

The Springfield Journal-Register reports the chase occurred Friday after officers recognized the 23-year-old man as someone being sought on an arrest warrant. He jumped into the vehicle, pushed the child’s mother out and drove off with the girl in the back seat.

After a chase through a neighborhood and onto an expressway, he stopped, jumped out and was arrested as he tried to run away. He faces several charges, including vehicular invasion and aggravated fleeing. He’s being held in the Sangamon County jail without bail.