Cops: Motorcyclist caught after lengthy chase, striking squad car

An Elgin man is being held on $500,000 bail after leading police on a motorcycle chase early Wednesday morning during which he rammed into the side of a squad car and attempted to strike a sheriff’s deputy, officials said.

Authorities spotted 27-year-old Renato Barsellotti walking from a wooded area about five hours after the beginning of the chase, thanks to the help of an FBI plane that was called to assist officers in locating the suspect, police said.

At about 12:30 a.m., Kane County sheriff’s deputies saw a 1997 Harley Davidson headed west on Route 20 near Coombs Road at more than 80 mph, according to police.

The deputies tried to stop the motorcycle, but it sped up, disobeyed several traffic signs and signals and eventually came to a stop at a construction zone more than four miles away.

The motorcyclist attempted to turn into a driveway to turn around near Big Timber and Damisch Roads, and rammed the motorcycle into the side of a squad car that was attempting to block the driveway, according to police.

After striking the side of the car as a deputy was exiting, the motorcyclist drove toward a second deputy who had gotten out of the vehicle and was ordering the driver to stop, police said.

The deputy got out of the way, but the motorcycle struck the squad a second time, police said.

The motorcyclist continued into Elgin, but turned around again and began heading back west before a Pingree Grove police officer, who had heard the pursuit over the radio, attempted to stop the bike at Route 20 and Reinking Road, police said.

A Pingree Grove police official said the motorcyclist grazed the officer and “spun him around,” but the officer was not injured.

Kane County sheriff’s police called off the pursuit at that point for an unknown reason, but discovered the motorcycle parked near Ramm and McGough Roads in Burlington Township at about 1:10 a.m., police said.

Kane County sheriff’s deputies, DeKalb County deputies, Elgin police, Burlington fire department personnel and members of the office of emergency management attempted to find the rider, but came up empty until a plane from the FBI spotted him at about 5:30 a.m., police said.

Authorities said the damage to the Kane County squad car was minor, and no deputies nor officers were injured.

Barsellotti was charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, two counts of aggravated fleeing to elude a peace officer, aggravated assault, reckless driving and speeding.

He appeared in bond court Wednesday, where a judge set bail at $500,000, according to jail records.