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A motion was approved Tuesday to detain pre-trial an armed Cook County man charged with leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car, prosecutors said.
Jujuan Barnes, 19, of the 15100 block of Diekman, Dolton, appeared in First Appearance Court Tuesday charged with one count each of aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, attempted aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer as well as two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.
About 3:01 a.m. Jan. 27, Villa Park police received information regarding a black Dodge Charger, valued at $43,695, which was stolen from a Kane County automobile dealership and fled from St. Charles police. Police located the vehicle, allegedly driven by Barnes, traveling at a high rate of speed and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, which was unsuccessful, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.
Instead of pulling over for officers, the Charger continued driving at a high rate of speed reaching speeds of approximately 106 mph near North and Ardmore avenues. Additionally, the Charger was being trailed by a white Infiniti. Both vehicles allegedly continued to flee from police eastbound on North Avenue. During the pursuit, police successfully spike-stripped the Charger at Interstate 290 and North Avenue, but the Infiniti evaded the strips, according to the release.
Both vehicles allegedly entered I-290 east, exited at St. Charles Road into an Elmhurst residential neighborhood where the Charger slowed down and two occupants, including Barnes and an unidentified individual, exited the Charger and entered the Infiniti, which continued to flee back onto I-290 east reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
Between St. Charles and Mannheim roads, the driver of the Infiniti lost control and crashed into a Volvo, injuring the occupant of the Volvo, who was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Following the crash, the four occupants of the Infiniti fled on foot, authorities said..
Barnes was arrested after officers tasered him. Another individual was also arrested at this time. As officers placed Barnes under arrest, they allegedly found a loaded Glock 22 handgun in his backpack along with burglary tools and two generic key fobs capable of being reprogrammed. When processing the Infiniti, police located a loaded RDA handgun with an attached 50-round drum magazine and a loaded Glock 22 with a fifty-round drum magazine, according to the release.
“The apprehension of the defendant in this case sends the crystal-clear message that in DuPage County, you cannot outrun the law,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “The allegations that Mr. Barnes led police on a 100-mph high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle while armed with a loaded handgun are extremely serious and will be met with the full force of the law. This behavior is extremely dangerous and puts not only the accused, but the officers involved as well as the motoring public at tremendous risk, as we saw in this case.”