Naperville police clock speeder at 99 mph in 30 zone

An afternoon joyride has turned a 22-year-old Naperville man into his hometown police department's poster child for speed enforcement.

Naperville police are fairly conservative when it comes to issuing press releases about catching people misbehaving. And nabbing a speeder is usually not considered newsworthy -- unless that speeder was going 99 miles per hour.

That's the speed a Naperville police officer clocked Michael J. Polley driving his 1995 black BMW about 4 p.m. Tuesday along Quincy Avenue on the city's west side in a 30 mph zone.

"Because of the unusual nature of the violation we felt this was a perfect opportunity to highlight our increased traffic safety enforcement," Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said.

Hoffman said the officer "was in the right place at the right time" to catch Polley, who was driving west on Quincy Avenue. He was arrested on charges of driving 40 mph over the limit and operating an uninsured motor vehicle, Hoffman said. He posted bond later in the day and was released.

Attempts to reach Polley were unsuccessful.

Jill Pelka-Wilger, the city's prosecutor, said Polley's speed of more than three times the legal limit is the highest she's ever seen in her nearly eight years of prosecuting the city's speeders. The ticket requires a court appearance.

"I do not have any recollection of a speed like this," she said. "Usually we see excessive speeds on four-lane roads, and we've seen them in residential areas where they have long stretches from time to time. But it doesn't take long to get a BMW to go that fast."

In fact, Quincy Drive is a road that stretches only about 2,000 feet between Ogden Avenue and Fort Hill Drive and is dissected by railroad tracks that would be dangerous to any car at more than 35 mph, let alone 99 mph, Hoffman said.

"It's an unusual location, and to get that speed is surprising," he added.

Hoffman said police have nabbed speeders going faster than Polley, but those have been on roads with high speed limits. The range between the speed limit and Polley's speed is what is striking, he said.

Pelka-Wilger said Polley faces a maximum of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The minimum punishment would be court supervision.