Prosecutors: Man tried to run down Mount Prospect officer

A driver who authorities say attempted to run down a Mount Prospect police officer last June was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Steven Smith, 19, of Chicago, is charged with the attempted murder of a police officer who prosecutors say jumped into a police truck to avoid being struck. If convicted, Smith, who is on parole for a 2016 drug-related conviction, faces 20 to 80 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say three men riding in a gray Nissan sedan with Minnesota license plates took a leaf blower from a landscaping truck about 10:55 a.m. June 28 on North Elm Street in Mount Prospect. Witnesses described the Nissan, and Mount Prospect detectives riding in an unmarked police truck soon spotted the car traveling south on Rand Road approaching Golf Road, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Gates said. Detectives in the unmarked truck followed the sedan until both vehicles were stopped by construction traffic, Gates said.

After the occupants looked back at the unmarked truck, the sedan made a U-turn and traveled northwest on Rand Road, she said.

Following the Nissan sedan into a parking lot, the police put on the truck's lights and sirens. According to Gates, the officers, who were wearing police vests and badges, got out of the police truck and pointed their weapons at the men in the sedan. The sedan, with Smith behind the wheel, drove toward the officer standing outside the passenger's side of the police truck, forcing the officer to jump into the truck, Gates said. The sedan struck the truck's open door, causing $2,000 in damage, and drove away, she said.

The Nissan later was recovered in Des Plaines near Rand Road.

Several hours later, according to Gates, Smith used his cellphone to report a stolen car. Cellphone data recovered by police was "consistent with the defendant being in the area of the incident and where the car was recovered," Gates said.

Smith, who has convictions for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, resisting a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, will next appear in a Skokie courtroom on Jan. 23.