Man detained pretrial after Oak Brook car chase connected to robbery

A man is being held in jail on charges that he led police on a high-speed chase in connection with a theft from a store at Oakbrook Center mall in Oak Brook.

Dwaun Blalock, 19, of the 1500 block of East 74th Street, is charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding.

Around 11:57 a.m. Tuesday, Oak Brook police tried to stop a Chevrolet Malibu near I-88 and Midwest Road. The car was used in a Dec. 4 robbery and theft, according to a news release from police and the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. They shot a Starchase GPS monitor onto the vehicle.

They say Blalock was driving, reaching speeds of 115 mph on westbound I-88 before exiting at Highland Avenue, making left turns through two red lights and getting back on to the tollway, eastbound. Officers stopped pursuing for safety concerns.

The car was tracked by other agencies, including a Chicago Police Department helicopter, to 113th Street and Indiana Avenue in Chicago. Blalock was arrested in an apartment building there.

His next court date is Jan. 5.

According to a prosecutor’s petition for pretrial detention, Blalock told officers the Malibu belonged to his girlfriend, Takarah Hall. While officers were taking Blalock back to Oak Brook, Hall reported the car as stolen and texted Blalock to tell him she had done so, according to the petition.

Hall came to retrieve the vehicle, at which time she was arrested on charges of retail theft, robbery and burglary. The charges accuse her of stealing three jackets from the Aritizia store around 4:45 p.m.

According to a petition for pretrial detention, Hall told a clerk and a store security worker, “You better not attempt to stop me or I’ll Mace you.” Mall security workers tracked her to the Malibu, according to the petition.

Judge Joshua Dieden ordered that Hall be detained. Her next court date is Jan. 5.