By Terry Hillig
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
COLLINSVILLE, Ill.. — Three suspects were arrested Monday following a manhunt that began after shots were fired at a Madison County Sheriff’s Department patrol car on Interstates 55-70 about 1:30 a.m.
Authorities said multiple shots were fired at the police car after the deputy tried to stop a black Chevrolet Camaro convertible with Ohio license plates.
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jim Morrisey said the deputy was not wounded by gunfire but was treated at a hospital for minor injuries caused by flying glass and other debris.
State Police are conducting the investigation.
Morrisey said the car was reported stolen from the Cincinnati area and was believed to be the same car that sped away during an attempted traffic stop by an Altamont, Ill., police officer on I-70 in Fayette County an hour or so earlier.
The Madison County deputy pursued the fleeing car at speeds that topped 100 mph. The chase led to the Woodland Trails Mobile Home Park, near Illinois Route 157 and Horseshoe Lake Road, where the suspects abandoned the car and fled.
A manhunt ensued, eventually involving an estimated 15 to 20 law enforcement agencies. Police began going door-to-door in the mobile home park and, about 7 a.m., found and arrested an unarmed 19-year-old male. The other two suspects, a male and a juvenile female, were arrested about 9:30 a.m. after they were found hiding under another mobile home.
Police said they recovered several weapons.
All of the arrests were made without incident, Morrisey said.
The suspects were not charged on Monday, and their names were not released. Police planned to present evidence to the Madison County state’s attorney’s office today, Morrisey said.
The male suspects were being held in the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville; the juvenile at the county’s juvenile detention center in Edwardsville.
Copyright 2008 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch