Police pursuit ends on Tri-State Tollway at 75th Street, causing huge backup

HODGKINS, Ill. (CBS) — A police pursuit ended with a backup on the Tri-State Tollway Tuesday afternoon.

As CBS 2’s Kris Habermehl reported, a vehicle occupied by a female driver and two male occupants were being sought for battering a police officer after police said they rammed a squad car in west suburban Oak Brook around 3 p.m.

Oak Brook police pursued the car on the eastbound Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) from Highland Avenue, then on the southbound to the Tri-State Tollway, and then about 150 feet on northbound I-55 before ending up back on the southbound Tri-State.

At 75th Street near the Willow Springs UPS facility, spike strips were put down, Habermehl reported. It was not clear if the suspects’ car — a gray Mazda — was stopped by the spike strips or if it hit another vehicle, but the Mazda did stop at 75th Street.

The three people in the car were taken into custody.

Meanwhile, an unmarked police car was also rammed by a semi-trailer truck at the scene. An officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The response backed up the southbound Tri-State all the way to Cermak Plaza. Habermehl compared traffic to “stuffing a bowling ball through a funnel.”

One southbound lane was open by 4 p.m., but the traffic backup remained heavy — particularly also given ongoing roadwork on the Tri-State.

By 4:40 p.m., the southbound Tri-State had reopened.