DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - A Wednesday night police chase involved a vehicle that was used in a different crime, police said.
At 9:58 p.m. Wednesday, police said they tried to stop a Nissan Sentra at the intersection of Witt Street and Prairie Avenue. The vehicle sped off, and the pursuit ended when the car crashed into a concrete retaining wall in the 600 block of N. Jasper St.
A short foot pursuit let to the arrest of the driver, a 29-year-old man. Police said they found a stolen firearm inside of the Nissan.
This suspect, who police have not yet identified, is a convicted felon who is on parole for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. He faces preliminary charges of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, armed habitual criminal, armed violence, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm and resisting/obstructing a peace officer.
Police said the Nissan used Wednesday night was the same one Dana E. Bond, 27, used to flee law enforcement on June 9. Officers said they had watched a vehicle abruptly park when police were passing by, and when officers attempted to make a traffic stop, Bond left the car with a suspicious item and ran into a Decatur home located at 1267 E. Hickory St.
Decatur Police Chief James Getz has said this residence was known to police and is believed to be a drug and gang home. Authorities said the 29-year-old suspect arrested Wednesday night was present at the Hickory Street address, where the suspects illegally possessed firearms and authorities found suspected controlled substances.
Click here for more information about the June 9 chase.
"The Decatur Police Department will continue to remove illegal firearms and violent offenders from the streets," police said.
