KAMPSVILLE - A man is in custody after a dangerous chase to evade police that involved driving a vehicle into the Illinois River, swimming across the river, stealing a car at a nearby campsite and eventually crashing the stolen vehicle.
Calhoun County Sheriff's Office and the Greene County Sheriff's Office worked together in the incident and Pittsfield Police apprehended the suspect who was fleeing police after he crashed near Detroit, Calhoun Sheriff William Heffington said.
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"We were asked for a mutual aid call with Greene County," Heffington said. The man was trying to evade Greene County Sheriff's Department when he drove off the ramp and submerged the vehicle in the river, Heffington said.
Then in an even more astonishing part of the story, the suspect swam all the way across the Illinois River to Kampsville and down river he ended up at a campsite, where he stole a vehicle there, the sheriff said.
"The man ended up downstream because of the current," the sheriff said.
There was an effort to remove the vehicle from the Illinois River late this afternoon so the Kampsville Ferry could start operating again. The Kampsville Ferry was temporarily shut down, but once the vehicle was removed started operating again. At 6:20 p.m., the ferry was running, someone at the scene said.
The man will be facing a multitude of charges and more information will be released later, Heffington said.
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