High-speed chase on I-90 ends in Rockford

Two men were taken into police custody following a high-speed chase that started in Forest Park, continued through the Northwest suburbs and ended in Rockford Friday afternoon.

One of the occupants of the silver 2006 Dodge Charger, which had tinted windows, pointed a weapon at a Forest Park police officer and another motorist near Cermak Road and Des Plaines Avenue before taking off on the Eisenhower Expressway around 3:15 p.m., police said.

The weapon, described as a shotgun or assault rifle, may have been pointed at a woman and her children, but those details are still unconfirmed, said Illinois State Police Sgt. Leo Serrano.

Minutes earlier, a Forest Park plainclothes officer noticed the driver of the Dodge commit a traffic violation near the Eisenhower and Harlem Avenue, an area known for narcotics trafficking, according to a Forest Park Police Department news release.

The officer attempted a traffic stop, as the vehicle fled, and the officer ended his brief pursuit. But marked squad cars continued the chase after receiving a 911 call about an occupant of the vehicle pointing a gun at a motorist and officer.

The vehicle made it to Interstate 90, where it headed west on the shoulder to the Rockford area, hitting speeds of up to 115 miles per hour, police said.

It’s believed the vehicle exited the tollway at Genoa Road near Belvidere and continued on Route 20 into Rockford. The driver ran a red light at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Ninth Street on the city’s southeast side just before 5 p.m., hitting one car, and spinning into another. Police took the two suspects into custody thereafter.

The suspects, ages 25 and 36, were being treated for injuries at a hospital Friday night. One man had serious injuries that were nonlife-threatening, and the other had minor injuries, according to Rockford Police Sgt. Scott Oswald.

Both suspects are Rockford residents.

Drivers in the cars hit by the Dodge Charger suffered minor injuries, Oswald said.

Serrano said state police and officers in Belvidere had ended their pursuit around 4:10 p.m. because driving conditions had become too dangerous due to slippery roads.

Rockford authorities did not get involved in the chase, Oswald said, but news helicopters in the area were relaying information on the vehicle’s location to dispatchers.

Charges are pending against the suspects. Forest Park and Belvidere police departments are involved in the case, Oswald said.