La Salle County state’s attorney: No breaks for any police pursuits

One of the chases left an Earlville officer with broken vertebrae. The suspect in another pursuit took a shank to a jail nurse and two guards. During the latest high-speed chase, police said the driver steered right at a cop.

La Salle County State’s Attorney Todd Martin has been on the job less than six months and already he’s fed up with the volume of police pursuits and the resulting injuries to the county’s sworn officers. His advice: If pulled over, think hard before hitting the gas.

“There will be zero consideration given to drivers in these circumstances,” Martin said. “While sentencing is ultimately up to the judges, the seriousness of these matters is not lost on my office and we will proceed accordingly.”

Police chiefs welcomed that pronouncement because they’re concerned not only with the sudden uptick in high-speed pursuits but also with the possibility of more to come.

Earlville Police Chief Darin Crask blames the increase in part on “anti-law enforcement rhetoric” on social media that celebrates noncompliance with police.

“I can’t help but think there is a nexus between that way of thinking and officers being forced into more dangerous situations like pursuits or standoffs,” Crask said.

The April 10 chase in Earlville nearly ended in tragedy. Crask released photos of the squad car damaged during the pursuit of Jaquaya Roy of Indiana. Officer Jesus Alonzo sustained two broken vertebrae and Crask said he’s lucky to be alive.

“The recent events serve as a reminder of just how dangerous the job is,” Crask said. “Oftentimes we hear, ‘Oh, this is just Earlville or Lostant, nothing bad ever happens here.’ The fact is officers working in rural farming communities face the dangers and uncertainties that all of law enforcement face.”

He added later, “We all have families at home that are depending on us coming home safe at the end of our shifts.”

La Salle County Sheriff Tom Templeton had officers involved in two pursuits that led directly or indirectly to injury.

Nobody was injured April 9 after police said Brad M. Johnson of Machesney Park sped from them, but authorities said Johnson later used a shank to attack a jail nurse, who wasn’t injured, and two corrections officers, who were.

And the latest police chase began Monday in Lostant and ended near Utica, drawing several responding agencies, including Templeton’s. Motorist James Tracy of Thomson is accused of aiming his car at an officer on foot. The unidentified officer was hurt when he dived from Tracy’s path, police said.

Lostant Police Chief Brad Anderson said criminals are being emboldened by both the new laws and the anti-police environment.

“We’ve seen several incidents of late where criminals are acting out with the belief that they can get away with the crimes, or that the potential for a smaller punishment is worth committing the crime,” he said. “This is creating a bigger danger to the general public as well as to our officers trying to protect the public.”

Templeton agreed the anti-police environment has made the job more dangerous for police and said the Legislature in Springfield shoulders some of the blame. Several new laws take effect July 1 and these include a provision that police must let a fleeing suspect get away unless the he or she poses a threat to the public. He couldn’t discount the possibility that criminals are wise to, and emboldened by, the new provision. The law hasn’t gone into effect yet.

“Both sides have to be thinking about it. Police need to think about how to adapt our policies in light of the legislation. On the other side, these people may not be college graduates, but they know what’s going on out there and I’ll bet it passes more quickly than it does on the policy side.”

And the Earlville case underscores another threat. Roy had a clean record, but one of her passengers didn’t. According to open court testimony, a parolee egged on Roy to flee the traffic stop – “Go go go,” he yelled from the passenger seat – and police found a gun that may have been ejected or tossed from Roy’s vehicle.

Templeton said it’s not a unique situation. Officers conducting traffic stops have no way of knowing who or what lurks inside the car, he said, and a convicted felon carrying drugs or a weapon will risk flight rather than arrest and a long trip to prison.