Police: Palatine officer shot suspect who tried to run him over
A plainclothes Palatine police officer shot a suspect who was attempting to ram the officer and his partner with his car, police officials said Friday morning.
The shooting Thursday evening occurred during what police are calling an active drug investigation in the parking lot at the Inverleith Apartments on the 500 block of North Quentin Road.
Cmdr. Bill Nord said the suspect - a 26-year-old man whom police have not yet charged with a crime - was struck once in the leg. He was treated at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights and released early Friday into custody at the Palatine police station while police continue their investigation. Nord said charges could be filed Saturday.
Clarence Foster, the on-site manager of the apartment complex, told a Daily Herald reporter Thursday he first noticed the suspect drive into the parking lot in a black, four-door Chevrolet Impala with tinted windows between 7:30 and 8 p.m.
Nord said two plainclothes police officers wearing ballistic vests approached the suspect's car, identified themselves as officers and told the man he was under arrest. The man threw his car into reverse, slamming it into a parked vehicle behind him in an attempt to flee. Once he was able to move his vehicle forward, police said, he accelerated and attempted to strike the officers with his vehicle.
Initial reports indicate one of the officers feared for his life and shot at the man in an attempt to protect both him and his partner, police said.
Foster said he heard three gunshots. Nord said police were still investigating how many shots were fired by the officer.
According to a Friday morning news release, the suspect then raced out of the parking lot. Soon after, the suspect was found by different officers about four miles away on the 1400 block of Winslowe Drive. Nord said officers thought that was a place the suspect would go because of previous contact the police had with the man.
The officer who shot the man was also taken to the hospital for observation, which is Palatine police policy for officer-involved shootings, and was also released.