Robert Maday, authorities say, was a busy man in his 26-hour bid for freedom:

He overpowered and embarrassed two experienced police guards.

He bought a new set of clothes and eluded a manhunt that encompassed the full depth and breadth of the Northwest suburbs.

He carjacked two vehicles and robbed a bank of $7,000.

But it all ended Friday with the Elk Grove Village man face down in handcuffs on a West Chicago lawn, left to contemplate another yearslong sojourn among the "hundreds of low-life morons" in federal prison he once vowed never to rejoin.

Maday was captured, police said, after the stolen car he was driving, with officers in close pursuit, sideswiped a Jeep and caromed into a traffic light at the intersection of James Street and Route 59.

In his wake, he left a trail of heroes, fall guys and exhausted officers who worked through the night and reportedly were about to close in on him, even before he is believed to have carjacked a Volkswagen Jetta and robbed a Bloomingdale bank Friday morning.

Authorities were quick to credit the eagle eyes of a West Chicago officer who spotted the Jetta and initiated the contact that ended in Maday's capture. But the Cook County state's attorney was nearly as quick to suspend the two agents who had been transporting Maday when he escaped.

The agents were taking Maday from a Kankakee County lockup Thursday to the Rolling Meadows courthouse to be sentenced for several suburban robberies, when he overpowered them, stole their weapons and left them handcuffed in their squad car, police say.

"The escape of Maday is an extremely serious breach of security, and the State's Attorney's Office has begun an internal investigation to determine the facts as to how this prisoner was able to escape from custody," said Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in a statement released Friday.

Alvarez said a preliminary investigation "determined that there were violations of office policies that govern the transport of prisoners."

Beyond that, however, neither she nor police would say how Maday, cuffed at the feet and hands in the back seat of the squad car, managed to get the drop on the two experienced agents. Federal authorities insisted it won't happen again.

"I can't speak for how other departments transfer their suspects," said Kim Widup, U.S. marshal for the Northern Illinois District. "I know how we will transport him, and he will not get away."

Maday was taken to the federal lockup in Chicago by 5 p.m. Friday after briefly being treated at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield for back pain. He is expected to face myriad new state and federal charges.

The massive manhunt for Maday began Thursday in the parking lot of a Rolling Meadows Meijer store, where police say he left his guards handcuffed while he bought a new set of clothes with money he stole from them, then used one of the two guns he took from them to threaten a woman and steal her car.

Using a hidden key, the agents freed themselves and called 911. Schools and businesses in the area were put on "soft" lockdown - with no one allowed to enter or leave - while authorities swarmed an apartment complex where Maday was believed to have fled.

That search was broken off after several hours, but police continued to pursue leads throughout the night. Police working on a special U.S. marshal's task force said they learned Maday had contact with acquaintances in Bloomingdale and Glendale Heights. The acquaintances cooperated with the probe, officials said.

"He wanted a confrontation," said an investigator who worked through the night on the case. "If he wanted to run, he could have. He had three different cars and many, many opportunities to flee on an interstate."

Instead, police say, Maday greeted an unsuspecting 32-year-old receptionist when she arrived for work at the Blackberry Falls Professional Center in Hoffman Estates, displayed a weapon and took off in her Volkswagen Jetta. Then, at about 9 a.m., according to authorities, he went to the First American Bank at the corner of Gary Avenue and Schick Road that he had robbed a year ago and again made off with several thousand dollars.

Police radios crackled with rumors and sightings throughout the morning - including one case of mistaken identity that led to an uncomfortable confrontation at the home of a woman whose husband had been the object of a tip.

"I'm really (upset) right now," the woman said Friday morning.

Then, just as Bloomingdale police were concluding a news conference to describe the bank robbery and carjacking, a report came that a West Chicago officer had spotted the Jetta heading north on Route 59.

Deputy Chief Bruce Malkin said the officer initially pulled Maday over into a fast-food parking lot near the city's downtown, but as the officer approached, gun drawn, Maday sped off and fled north.

The officer, a two-year veteran with a U.S. Marine background, radioed for backup and within minutes, other squad cars joined the pursuit.

Fugitive's path

According to witnesses, Maday apparently attempted to squeeze between two cars, sideswiped one of them, a Jeep, and was launched into a traffic light at Route 59 and James Avenue.

Police said that as they approached, Maday made a peculiar hand gesture as if he were thinking of pulling a weapon, but instead dropped to the ground in surrender. Police said they recovered both stolen weapons, one of which was in Maday's waistband.

A West Chicago woman who was driving one of the cars Maday apparently tried to drive between said the scene was "like a movie."

"He clipped the rear of the Jeep and then hit a light pole and that thing just flew up," Michelle Lorman said.

The pole flew into the air and the Jetta came down in a group of 8-foot-tall bushes nearby.

The 54-year-old West Chicago man who was driving the Jeep was treated at Central DuPage Hospital for apparently minor injuries.

Another witness, Mike Panos of Plainfield, said he was staying at his girlfriend's house in West Chicago and was awakened by the sounds of the chase.

"I heard the cop cars flying by and then heard the car smash into a light pole," Panos said. "It's kind of crazy, because you live in the suburbs and now this weird stuff is happening out here."

U.S. Marshal Chief Inspector Jason Grunwald expressed relief that the ordeal was over.

"It's been a tense 24 hours since he's been on the run," Grunwald said. "As fugitives stay on the run longer and longer, they get more and more desperate."

Widup used a question about similarities to the Harrison Ford movie "The Fugitive" to praise officers who worked throughout the night without sleep.

"Hollywood has its own version of things," he said. "These guys would have stayed awake two more days if needed and that's what Hollywood doesn't show."

Identified in one federal report as a "career offender," Maday has a rap sheet dating back at least 22 years. He was released from a Pennsylvania prison in September 2005 after serving 11 years for armed robberies. He returned to Illinois but still had to report to Illinois officials as part of his parole.

While still on parole, however, he was arrested last December and later convicted of several bank robberies in Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Bloomingdale, Lake Zurich, Huntley and Buffalo Grove. He was being held in Kankakee County jail while awaiting sentencing of 12 to 15 years according to a plea agreement on the federal charges.

Federal authorities said they have not yet scheduled arraignment on an expected raft of new charges arising from his 26 or so hours of freedom. He is being held in Chicago on the basis of the original convictions.

While free on parole, Maday apparently made at least two Web postings alluding to his time in the Lewisburg, Pa., federal penitentiary. In one, he ridicules two of his former jailmates who committed new crimes within a year of their release and were returned to prison.

"When you get back to the federal pen, say hello to the hundreds of low-life morons we left behind and greet them with hugs and kisses," wrote an author identifying himself as Robert Maday of Des Plaines, "because that's your family forever now."

• Daily Herald staff writers Lee Filas, Madhu Krishnamurthy, Ashok Selvam and Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.