June 04--A 16-year-old motorist is accused of being high when he plowed into the side of a Chicago police car, seriously injuring three officers Tuesday night on the West Side.
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil set bail at $250,000 Thursday afternoon for Rashaad Paris, who was charged with aggravated DUI.
The crash happened about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Lavergne Avenue, authorities said.
Paris, who does not have a driver's license, was behind the wheel of a white Chevrolet Impala with two passengers. The three were driving around before buying some cannabis when they stopped near Madison Street and Cicero Avenue to pick up a fourth person, according to prosecutors.
Police saw Paris driving near Washington Boulevard and Central Avenue, activated their emergency lights and tried to pull him over. An arrest report indicates that the chase started when police saw a muffler dragging under the Impala, causing sparks to shoot out.
Paris stopped the car briefly, but when officers got out of the squad car, Paris drove away "at a high rate of speed,'' according to prosecutors.
Officers gave chase, spotted the Impala's back door opening, and saw one of the passengers stick their head out of the car and begin crying for help and trying to get out of the car, prosecutors said.
"Concerned they were witnessing an abduction situation, officers put the information out over the radio and requested backup,'' and continued to follow the Impala, which did not stop, according to prosecutors.
Paris' three passengers were yelling at him to stop, but he refused.
As he approached Washington and Lavergne, an unmarked police car responding to the abduction call was northbound on Lavergne, with the three officers inside.
The officers had the green light and slowly entered the intersection looking for the Impala. But about 8:15 p.m., Paris ran the red light and T-boned the driver's side of the unmarked car, prosecutors said.
He was driving at "speeds exceeding 21 mph over the speed limit,'' prosecutors said.
After the crash, Paris tried to climb out of the driver's side window but was unable because he was pinned in, prosecutors said.
All three officers remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon. One suffered a cardiac contusion, blunt head trauma and a pelvis fracture. He also suffered amnesia because of a traumatic brain injury and needs further testing, prosecutors said.
Another officer suffered a dislocated shoulder and lacerations to the face. He was discharged from Mount Sinai Hospital on Thursday but moved to Rush University Medical Center for shoulder surgery, prosecutors said.
The third officer was unconscious after the wreck and had to be extricated from the car. He suffered a lung contusion, a broken neck and a fractured spinal stem, prosecutors said. He suffered six fractured ribs and a laceration to his spleen, which may require surgery.
Paris' passengers were also injured. A 22-year-old suffered a pelvis fracture, a hip fracture, and a broken left femur, for which he needed surgery to insert a rod. The 22-year-old also suffered a fractured pubic bone.
His 23-year-old passenger had lacerations to the face, and another 23-year-old passenger was taken to a hospital but left before he could be interviewed, prosecutors said.
Paris tested positive for cannabis, and he admitted smoking it earlier in the day, driving without a license, fleeing from police and hitting the unmarked squad, prosecutors said.
The arrest report indicates that police found cannabis and a bottle with 33 codeine pills in the Impala after the crash. The prescription for those pills was not for anyone in the car.
In 2013, Paris was cited in a juvenile petition with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, for which he was given supervision plus six days in the juvenile detention center, drug counseling and community service, prosecutors said.
Tribune reporter Steve Schmadeke contributed.
