Villa Park Man Leads Cops On High-Speed Chase: Prosecutors

VILLA PARK, IL – A Villa Park man was arrested last week after leading police on a high-speed chase, authorities said.

James Hutson, 38, who lives at Motel 6 on Roosevelt Road, was arrested on charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer, driving with a suspended license and multiple petty traffic offenses, police said.

About 2:30 a.m. Friday, a DuPage County sheriff's deputy near Ogden Avenue and Naper Boulevard in Naperville saw a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis with license plates that were not registered to the car leaving a Casey’s gas station, according to a news release from DuPage County prosecutors.

The deputy followed the car to the intersection of Naper Boulevard and Naperville Wheaton Road, where Hutson drove over the yellow turn lane on Naper Boulevard, police said.

The deputy then activated emergency lights to stop Hutson, but Hutson did not pull over and made his way to eastbound Interstate 88, where he reached speeds of 108 mph, police said.

The pursuit ended when Hutson exited I-88 at Midwest Road in Oakbrook Terrace, prosecutors said.

Shortly after, officers with the Oakbrook Terrace police found the Grand Marquis and followed it to a Motel 6 in Villa Park, police said. Hutson surrendered after running into one of the motel's rooms, police said.

"The complete disregard for public safety allegedly displayed by this defendant as he fled police at 108 mph will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

A DuPage County judge agreed to prosecutors' request to detain Hutson before his trial.