Rockford man charged with car theft, fleeing after rollover crash in Genoa

GENOA – A Rockford man was arrested Sunday after police allege he stole a car and fled the scene of a rollover crash in Genoa.

Patrick K. McBride III, of Rockford was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, obstructing justice and driving on a revoked license, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Jim Burgh said McBride allegedly crashed a 2017 Kia near the area of Genoa and Pierce roads, and attempted to flee the scene by knocking on a nearby resident’s door asking to use a phone.

“They were knocking on the door, trying to get someone’s phone to try to get a ride and get picked up. They were literally trying to evade the police,” Burgh said.

McBride suffered minor injuries in the single-vehicle crash and was taken by paramedics to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb. He was then taken to DeKalb County Jail, where he was processed and then released, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

McBride’s charges are non-detainable under the Pretrial Fairness Act.

DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies have not yet determined the cause of the crash, but they have some ideas, Burgh said.

“They [deputies] were never able to really determine why,” Burgh said. “There was nothing that caused it other than his – we don’t know. We had a witness say that he, that car had passed another citizen on the same road real fast. So it sounds like he was driving pretty erratic. But we don’t really know an exact determination.”

Burgh said McBride was found in a small residential area near the crash scene, and initially wouldn’t tell sheriff’s deputies who he was. The crash remains under investigation.

“It’s still under investigation, a few more follow-ups with Rockford police on the vehicle itself,” Burgh said. “It should be coming to an end quick.”