Man charged with stealing Charger from St. Charles dealership, fleeing police with gun

A 19-year-old man accused of fleeing police in a stolen Dodge Charger while armed with a gun is being detained pretrial.

DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden ruled Monday that Jajuan Barnes, of the 15100 block of Diekman in Dolton, be detained on grounds he is dangerous.

“His conduct, defiance, resolve to avoid apprehension, and attitude suggest an inability to comply with any conditions of release,” Dieden wrote.

Barnes is charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, attempted aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated fleeing and eluding police.

According to court records and a news release from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office, Villa Park police received an alert at 3:01 a.m. Monday about a Dodge Charger, valued at $43,695, which had been stolen from Fox Valley GMC/Buick, 1421 E. Main St. in St. Charles.

St. Charles police had terminated their pursuit.

The vehicle reached speeds of 106 mph on North Avenue in Villa Park while being followed by a white Infiniti.

Police used tire-deflating spike strips to slow the Charger at I-290. Both vehicles got onto the highway, and the Charger exited on St. Charles Road. Two people got out of the Charger and into the Infiniti.

Between St. Charles and Mannheim roads, the Infiniti crashed into a Volvo; an occupant of the Volvo suffered minor injuries.

Four people in the Infiniti ran off; police stopped Barnes by shocking him. Police say they Barnes’ backpack and found a Glock 22, burglary tools and two generic key fobs capable of being reprogrammed.

In the Infiniti, police also found a loaded RDA handgun with an attached 50-round drum magazine, and a loaded Glock 22 with a 50-round drum magazine.

One other person, who was not named, also was arrested, according to the news release.