A Park Ridge teen who pleaded guilty to multiple car thefts last year and was recently arrested in connection with another stolen car over the summer now stands accused of escaping from police custody, Park Ridge police said.
The 16-year-old boy was taken into custody on the morning of Dec. 21 after a Cook County juvenile court judge issued a warrant for his arrest based on a reported violation of his probation, said Park Ridge Deputy Police Chief Duane Mellema.
The exact nature of the probation violation was unclear, Mellema said.
Police, after being informed of the warrant, located the teen in a forest preserve west of Maine South High School, and, after taking him into custody around 11:30 a.m., took him to the Park Ridge Police Station where he allegedly escaped the building during processing.
Because of his age and the non-violent nature of the offense, the teen had been kept in a “non-secure portion of the station,” at the time of his processing, but was under the supervision of an officer who was also present, Mellema said.
After running out of the police station, the boy was caught about a “half-block away” and returned, Mellema said.
He now faces charges of escape in addition to the probation violation charge, police said. He is back in juvenile detention, Mellema said.
The teen, whose name is not being released by authorities because he is a juvenile, was sentenced to three years probation in 2016 after pleading guilty to three counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. That year, when he was 14, the boy was accused of stealing several cars that were left unlocked and running around the city, including one vehicle that had an 88-year-old woman inside. Police said the boy drove the woman to her home before heading into a neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side, where he was arrested.
In August 2016, the boy pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and was given three years probation, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
According to police, the teen was in juvenile detention on a separate probation violation this fall when police arrested him again after evidence reportedly tied him to a Lincoln SUV that was stolen over the summer. That vehicle, police said, was left unlocked and running when it was stolen from the 700 block of North Merrill Street on July 20.
The SUV was recovered the following day, police said.
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
