Bail was denied today for a Chicago man accused of striking a police officer with his Jaguar sports car during a traffic safety check in a Near North Side nightclub district and leading police on a five-mile high-speed chase.
Rodney Steele, 32, is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated battery of a police officer, aggravated fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest, and numerous traffic violations stemming from a traffic stop early Monday in the city’s Goose Island neighborhood.
Officers from the Near North police district were conducting a seat-belt safety check in the 1500 block of North Kingsbury Street about 2 a.m. when they noticed Steele was not properly belted and told him to pull over his 2006 black Jaguar S-Type, prosecutors said.
Instead of stopping, Steele accelerated into a uniformed 51-year-old officer, who was thrown onto the hood and held on as the Jaguar sped away. Steele then made a sudden left turn, throwing the officer off the hood and rolling onto the street, according to prosecutors.
As police chased Steele down Sheffield Avenue, one officer fired a shot, striking the driver’s side door of the Jaguar but missing Steele. Police followed the Jaguar onto the eastbound Kennedy Expressway and pursued Steele to 31st Street and South Princeton Avenue, where he bailed out of the car and ran into an alley, prosecutors said.
Steele was Tasered by police but continued to resist arrest, swinging his elbows and legs and injuring two more officers before he was brought under control, according to an arrest report.
The officer who was struck by the car was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for swelling, abrasions and bruising to his knees, Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Costello said. Two officers who scuffled with Steele were also treated for knee injuries.
At the time of his arrest, Steele was wanted in a warrant for a pending bribery and weapons case at the Markham courthouse, records show. He also was driving on a suspended license.
Steele, of the 1000 block of West 112th Street, was dressed in a shirt that read “Artful Dodger” and had dark purple bruises all over his face when he appeared in court. His attorney said Steele works for a towing company and supports two young children.
According to court records, Steele was arrested Jan. 29 outside Club Adrianna’s, at 163rd Street and Dixie Highway in Markham, after police found a loaded .38-caliber handgun in his Jaguar. While he was being taken to the police station, he allegedly offered the arresting officers $25,000 in cash to let him go.
A warrant in that case was issued May 3 after he failed to show for his arraignment, records show
1 comment:
Sure he was a slimeball, but a seatbelt check at 2AM? That sounds like a roadblock to me. We were assured by the IL state legislature that the seatbelt law would only be enforced if it were noticed in the course of some more serious traffic stop. And now we have seatbelt roadblocks -- kind of like in the old East Germany -- "Where are your papers?"
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