Police wound suspect after chase

A man who led police on a three-mile chase that ended on the Near West Side early this morning was shot and wounded in the elbow by an officer after he picked up a gun on the front seat of his car, officials said.
The suspect was shot about 2:45 a.m. in the 400 block of South Leavitt Street.
The chase began at Polk and Clark streets, where a beat car answering a call about a drunk driver found a man asleep in his car with a gun lying next to him on the front seat, said Pat Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police.
Seeing the gun, the two officers backed off and called for assistance. The driver then woke up and took off, with the police officers in pursuit, he said.
The chase continued on the Eisenhower Expressway, Camden said. At one point, the suspect's car lost a tire, and the officers caught up at Leavitt and Van Buren Street.
As the officers approached, the suspect picked up the gun and one of the officers fired, hitting the man in the elbow, Camden said.
The gun was recovered, Camden said.