From Springfield to suburbs, Gilberts man leads police on chase

Police have captured a 34-year-old Gilberts man who led several departments on a 200-mile chase that ended near Schaumburg but started downstate in Springfield.

He was the same man who police say just last week led authorities on a chase along the Jane Addams Tollway.

Matthew M. Clark was charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding and possession of a stolen vehicle, said Oak Brook Officer Mark Kozlowski.

A DuPage County judge later set Clark's bond at $300,000 and he was being held in county jail in Wheaton late Friday.

Authorities said Clark led numerous police departments on a high-speed chase, beginning around midnight Thursday night.

The chase reportedly started when police in Springfield tried to stop Clark, who was driving a Dodge Neon, for a broken taillight, authorities said.

Instead of pulling over, Clark took off on I-55 heading north, eventually making his way to I-355, where he continued north, with different police forces picking up the chase along the way, Illinois State Police said.

Oak Brook police said they'd been put on the lookout for Clark's silver Dodge Neon, which an officer spotted - without its lights on - on 22nd Street near Midwest Road.

Clark was eventually nabbed by Oak Brook police near Illinois Route 53 at East Higgins Road near Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg at about 3 a.m. Friday after his car drove over spike strips that Lombard police had deployed, authorities said.

Gilberts police have had run-ins with Clark before, said Gilberts Sgt. Jack Rood.

Local authorities already had warrants out for Clark's arrest for three counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding, one count of criminal damage to state-supported property and one count of violation of an order of protection, Rood said, adding Clark also has eight outstanding traffic citations out of Gilberts.

At about midnight on Jan. 23, police attempted to pull Clark over but he fled onto I-90, Rood said. Police stopped chasing him at Route 31 for safety reasons. But then as a squad car was coming back to the station, Clark came up behind the car and rammed it before he sped off, Rood said.

• Staff Writer Gene Haschak contributed to this report.