Search continues in Plainfield, Naperville for fugitive, carjacking suspect
A suspect who evaded police during a six-hour search Tuesday in Plainfield now is accused of stealing a car at gunpoint Wednesday, authorities said.
Lowell "Max" Ambler, 46, caught the attention of Plainfield police Tuesday when Illinois State Police notified officers that he was a fugitive wanted on warrants and possibly headed to the northwest side of town in a stolen semitrailer, the department said in a news release.
Police found the semitrailer on Tuesday, but Ambler wasn't inside. On Wednesday, a carjacking victim reported his SUV was stolen about 8:20 a.m. by a man who resembled Ambler, police said.
That began anew the search for the white man described as 6 feet tall and 185 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and a beard. The Will County sheriff's office is leading the investigation into the carjacking Wednesday, and Naperville police also said they were called in to assist.
The latest stolen vehicle in which Ambler may be traveling is a burgundy 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe with the license plate S785884, Plainfield police said in a news release posted to the department's Facebook page.
The Santa Fe was reported stolen from 119th Street west of Van Dyke Road, which is near Plainfield North High School on the village's northwest side. The location is less than a mile from Normantown Road and 119th Street, where the semitrailer Ambler was believed to have stolen and then abandoned on Tuesday was found. Anyone who has seen the burgundy Santa Fe, or who has information about Ambler's whereabouts, is asked to call 911.
Wednesday marks the second day of southwest suburban searches for Ambler, who is wanted on warrants from Lee and LaSalle counties for violation of bail bond and violation of an order of protection, Plainfield police said.
On Tuesday, a six-hour search of neighborhoods, commercial areas, abandoned buildings, farm houses and farm fields included officers on foot and in vehicles, police dogs and a surveillance plane. Educators placed Plainfield North High School on a soft lockdown and took security precautions at Crone Middle School in Naperville, and police asked residents near 119th Street and 248th Avenue to stay inside.