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SOUTH ROXANA - One man is in custody after being tasered following a police chase ending in a quiet South Roxana neighborhood.
Wood River Deputy Police Chief Dan Bunt said his department began pursuit after a carjacking victim from Pontoon Beach went into First Mid-Illinois Bank and reported they had been carjacked by a man with a gun and forced into financial institutions to attain money. Bunt said that gun was an extremely realistic fake.
"It looked and felt real," he said. "We didn't know it was an airsoft gun until we got it back to the station."
After the victim fled into the bank, and bank staff locked doors and called authorities, Bunt said his department and Hartford pursued the man into South Roxana with authorities from there as well as Roxana joining.
Witness Mark Dvorchak said the victim's white Nissan Altima was being driven at speeds exceeding 100 when it attempted to make a sharp turn down a residential street in the 900 block of Indiana in South Roxana. The vehicle hit a mailbox, went sideways and crashed in a yard just behind Dvorchak's home.
South Roxana Police Chief Bob Coles said one suspect attempted to flee the scene, but was subsequently taken into custody by authorities on the scene. Bunt said the man was tasered before being taken into custody.
Charges are pending against the man at this time, but Bunt said they will probably come from Pontoon Beach, where the initial carjacking occurred.
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