Police: Wanted felon crashed into squad car, led officers on chase in Waukegan
WAUKEGAN (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A wanted felon is facing a series of new charges after crashing into a squad car and leading police on a chase last week when officers tried to arrest him in north suburban Waukegan.
About 1:30 p.m. March 12, Waukegan police officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Service-Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force tried to take 29-year-old Jacob T. Powell into custody while he was sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot at the Red Roof Inn at 3031 Belvidere Road, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Powell, of Waukegan, was wanted on felony counts of unlawful possession of weapons by felons, aggravated fleeing a police officer and possession of defaced firearm, the sheriff’s office said.
When officers surrounded the vehicle and told him to get out, Powell put it in reverse and crashed into a squad car before driving over a curb onto a patch of grass and making his way to neighboring Gurnee, the sheriff’s office said. Due to a flat tire, Powell ultimately lost control of his vehicle near the intersection of Grand Avenue and O’Plaine Road, at which point he jumped out and ran off.
After briefly losing sight of the suspect, a canine unit with the sheriff’s office found Powell underneath a deck and took him into custody. He was then taken to Vista Medical Center in Waukegan for medical treatment before being transferred to the Lake County Jail, the sheriff’s office said.
Powell was charged with resisting a peace officer and obstructing a peace officer, the sheriff’s office said.
In addition, he was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, intent to deliver, delivery of a controlled substance within 500 feet of a school, possession of a weapon by a felon, damage to state-supported property, driving while license revoked and no insurance after officers searched his room at the Red Roof Inn, the sheriff’s office said.
Powell is being held on $300,000 bond awaiting an April 4 court date, the sheriff’s office said.