By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
At about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, the Independent received a press release from the City of Elmhurst saying that police were investigating an incident that occurred at York St. and Crestview Ave. and that traffic lanes were closed on York St. northbound at Lake St. and southbound at Grand Avenue. Commuters were asked to avoid the area. The lane closures were in place as late as 10 p.m. Tuesday.
While one television news station reported at about 9 p.m. that there had been an incident of an officer “involved in a shooting,” no further details about any shooting at the scene has been confirmed by the Elmhurst Police Department.
Instead, the City issued a release on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 28 saying police had attempted to pull a car over for a infraction, but the car had sped off rather than stopped. The vehicle was later reportedly located somewhere in Chicago, but the driver remains at large.
Update
About 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, another release issued by Police Chief Ruth said that during the traffic stop, the suspect drove the vehicle in the direction of the officer, and the officer’s firearm was discharged. As the suspect fled from police, he crashed into another vehicle. The suspect’s vehicle was recovered in Chicago following an intermittent pursuit involving several police agencies. The officers involved were not injured and the driver remains at large.