Three alleged gang members arrested after car chase into Palatine

Melanie the bloodhound, a police helicopter with a spotlight and scores of officers helped nab three alleged gang members after a car chase from Arlington Heights to Palatine, a Cook County sheriff's spokesman said.

The chase occurred late Wednesday night as the sheriff's department was doing surveillance outside the Country Glen Apartments in Arlington Heights where gang officers had heard a large gang fight was expected to erupt, sheriff's spokesman Steve Patterson said.

Officers saw three men drive by in a vehicle and one of them was carrying a shotgun. Police tried to pull the vehicle over, which led to a brief chase that ended at Lake-Cook and Hicks Roads in Palatine, Patterson said.

At that point, the three men jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot. The man with the shotgun was caught quickly, but the other two ran into the woods.

A police helicopter with a spotlight located one of the men in a marsh, but he wasn't moving because he was stuck in the muck, Patterson said.

Meanwhile, a police bloodhound named Melanie tracked the scent of the third man from the abandoned vehicle to his hiding place in the woods, Patterson said.

Police have not yet released the names of the men who were arrested, nor a list of charges.

• Staff Writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.