EDWARDSVILLE - A burglary spree that evolved into a car chase early Wednesday morning and moved into late morning involved multiple law enforcement jurisdictions until a suspect was ultimately apprehended in St. Louis.
Edwardsville Police responded to a burglary at Walgreens in Edwardsville at 2:30 a.m. and after that suspects left that scene and were eventually stopped in Maryville by Maryville Police.
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Maryville Police were alert and noticed cigarettes in the back of a vehicle on a traffic stop and while getting the driver out of the car and in custody the passenger raced off in the vehicle. The man crashed the vehicle at the roundabout of Illinois 162 near Maryville Baptist Church. After crashing the car, he fled the scene and police were not able to locate him. Troy Police became involved at this point.
The suspect that remained on the loose was hiding at a construction site of a duplex and he ran off from the scene and eventually carjacked a lawn service van with an employee aboard. The employee eventually jumped out of the vehicle. The lawn service employee was injured and taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
An extensive chase ensued through Edwardsville to Pontoon Beach, Granite City and eventually across the McKinley Bridge to St. Louis. The suspect was apprehended by St. Louis authorities once the vehicle was stopped and the scanner call said it was the Williams Avenue area in St. Louis.
Keevan said the black male driver was taken into custody first, then a white male crashed the vehicle on the roundabout near Maryville Baptist Church.
The police chief said when officers arrived at the Walgreens, they noticed glass breakage and it looked like cigarettes that were stolen. The Maryville officers tied the cigarettes to the vehicle when they made a traffic stop. Both of the suspects were from St. Louis. The black male driver taken into custody was 32 years old.
Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido said there was an Alton connection to this case as the Walgreens on State Street was also burglarized. He said Alton Police are also involved in the overall investigation in this case.
