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Bad boys, b.b's, whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys.

3K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  J Miller 
#1 ·
A very interesting experience yesterday.
About 4:00 we were leaving an Osco Drug Store after having some pictures developed. We saw a Sangamon County Sheriffs car rolling South fast on 6th St with lights and siren on.
We left the lot and headed South towards the freeway on our way to Wal-Mart.
As we approached the next intersection we saw numerous police cars converging on our location. Our first question was of course, what's going on now?
Then I looked to my right and saw a Southern View police officer holding his gun on the occupants of a silver Pontiac Gran Prix.
In less time than I can type it police cars were driving across grassy center dividers and the wrong way on 6th street to converge literally right in front of us. The little red truck ahead of us had passed through the intersection and only got maybe 50 yards before he stopped right in the middle of the street with cop cars coming at and around him. I could visualize the driver trying to crawl under the seat to hide.
In less than a minute there were at least a dozen officers with guns drawn participating in the take down of the two black males in the Gran Prix. One was a real cute little blond gal with a pony tail. Gads did she look vicious!
The guys in the truck next to us told us that the GranPrix was the same car the police had been looking for since Friday. It was car jacked at gun point from a couple with a child.
The officers opened the right rear passenger door and reached in over the front seat back and drug one of the b.m.'s out, tossed him on the ground and then at least five officers pounced on him.
A few seconds later the left side b.m. was drug out and thrown to the ground. Another half dozen officers pounced on him.
About this time an ambulance rolled in. I guess they expected injuries.
We had a front row seat. Less than 50 feet from where we had to stop to where the take down happened.

After the police had secured the two occupants of the car they returned to their vehicles and cleared the intersection so those of us sitting there could leave.
As they moved off we heard that there was another suspect just North of us. So the chase was still on.
In this one take down there were officers from the Southern View PD, Springfield PD, University of Illinois PD, Sangamon County Sheriffs Dept, and The Illinois State Police.

As we drove off the guys in the truck beside us were singing:
Bad boys, bad boys, Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys.
We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes.

About two hours later we drove back past the seen of the take down. Many police cars and news media were there. So when we got home we turned on the news, and stuck in a tape.
According to the Sangamon County Sheriff an off duty police dispatcher recognized the Silver GranPrix as the car jacked car. Called it in. Then there was high speed chase on the freeway, surface streets and almost into some of the neighborhoods. Turns out the bg's couldn't drive and crashed the car.
After crashing the car one of the bg's ran, took a bicycle from a young girl and got caught anyway. The bg's had used a gun in the car jacking and so all the LEO's were taking no chances.

An interesting experiance. Being that close to all the police officers with their guns drawn was exhilarating. Both of us got an adrenalin rush out of it.

All in all, a good bust from what I have seen. On one side note, most if not all the handguns I recognized were Glocks. One plain closed officer had a matt silver shotgun of some kind. It looked too small to be a 12 gauge, but I couldn't tell for sure what it was.

Usually we carry cameras with us, but this time we forgot. I'll never forget again.

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UPDATE:

http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/5873.asp

Crash ends chase
Carjacking suspect, two others in custody

By JOHN REYNOLDS
STAFF WRITER

An off-duty police dispatcher spotted a car Monday that had been carjacked over the weekend, setting off a high-speed chase along Interstate 55 and the southern portion of Springfield that ended when the Pontiac Grand Prix crashed on Apple Orchard Road near South Sixth Street.

One other vehicle was struck during the pursuit, but there were no serious injuries.

Police officers with shotguns and handguns drawn swarmed the Pontiac while astonished bystanders watched. The two passengers were quickly taken into custody, but the driver got out and tried to run.

"All I saw was one take off, and he took off south," said Teresa Loeffler of Springfield, who witnessed the end of the chase from a nearby Walgreen's parking lot.

The driver, identified by police as Antonio M. Florence, 26, of the 2600 block of Poplar Street, was captured about a block away. He faces charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding, possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving, as well as robbery because he stole a bicycle from a girl while attempting to flee, police said.

Florence also was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with Saturday's theft of the Grand Prix and the robbery at gunpoint of its owners, a Springfield couple.

Police late Monday were still questioning the two male passengers, ages 21 and 23. No charges were immediately sought against them.

The chase began about 3:50 p.m. as an Auburn police dispatcher was heading north on I-55 near Chatham. She had been on a ride-along with police Saturday night when the Grand Prix was reported stolen, remembered the license number, and when she saw it, notified authorities, said Capt. Jeff Berkler of the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office.

A county deputy and an Illinois State Police trooper spotted the silver Pontiac and tried to pull the driver over. He refused, and a pursuit at speeds of about 100 mph took place on the interstate.

Sheriff Neil Williamson said that in most cases, deputies do not participate in high-speed chases. However, this instance met the criteria for when they do get involved, he said, because the carjacking was a felony in which a firearm was used.

The Pontiac left I-55 at the Stevenson Drive exit and sped west. In the process, it struck the rear of another car.

The fleeing driver continued on Stevenson and eventually turned north onto Taylor Avenue and west onto Stanton Avenue, then west again on Stevenson and north on Fifth Street, with Florence attempting to turn onto Apple Orchard Road but hitting a concrete median, police said.

The Pontiac then careened to the side of Apple Orchard with a broken front passenger-side wheel and came to a stop. Florence allegedly took off, while the two passengers remained inside.

Berkler said the passengers were ordered out of the car and told to lie in the road.

Florence was captured behind the Family Video at 2919 S. Fifth St.

Police said they suspected Florence might have been armed. However, he did not have a gun on him when he was arrested, so police dogs were brought to the scene to search. No weapon was found.

No shots were fired during the chase and arrests, police said.

At the conclusion of the pursuit, police cruisers from the sheriff's office, Springfield police, Southern View police and Illinois State Police were at the scene.

Among the crowd of onlookers were Brian and Heather Dickerson, owners of the carjacked Pontiac.

"I'm glad to have the car back. I wish they wouldn't have wrecked it, though," Heather said. "I'm glad they were caught. (The Saturday robbery) was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me."

Brian said the car had been stolen at their home about 8:20 p.m.

Someone walked up to the driver's door, stuck a gun in his face and demanded his wallet. Heather and the couple's infant son were in the car at the time.

After Brian handed over his money, the armed man took the special-edition Grand Prix, which had been a Valentine's Day gift to Heather from Brian. It was her first new car.

Since the robbery, both Brian and Heather have been hoping to get the $30,000 car back. At the time of Monday's chase, Brian was at WICS Channel 20 in the hopes of getting a photo of the Pontiac on the air.

Brian owns BLH Enterprises Inc., 3215 Stanton St., and the speeding vehicles happened to go by his business

People in the store recognized his car and called him with news of the chase.

Both Brian and Heather said they were glad the front-end damage to the car was not more severe.

Staff writer Brian Wallheimer contributed to this report. John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524 or john.reynolds@sj-r.com.


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As it turns out, Brian is the owner of the computer shop that works on our computer.
 
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