3rd Man Arrested In 3 Weeks For Ramming Evanston Police Car: Cops

EVANSTON, IL — In a three week period, Evanston police have arrested three men accused of ramming into squad cars and injuring officers while fleeing traffic stops.

Tashwan Owen, 31, of the 2500 block of Central Street, Evanston, faces five felony counts following his arrest Sunday, police said. Owen was pulled over by police around 9:15 a.m. on Saturday near the intersection of Foster Street and Maple Avenue.

Officers stopped his red Chevy SUV because he officers recognized him and knew he had an active arrest warrant, according to Cmdr. Ryan Glew. Police said Owen fled in the SUV before officers could arrest him.

A nearby officer looking for Owen noticed the Chevy around the 2500 block of Central Avenue, according to Glew. As the officer got out of his vehicle, Owen drove at him and side-swiped the driver's side of the squad car before continuing to flee.

Investigators tracked Owen to the 2300 block of West Chase Avenue in Chicago's West Ridge neighborhood. Glew said he was taken into custody by Evanston detectives without any further incident.

Owen was charged with five felonies: aggravated battery to a police officer, aggravated battery — use of a deadly weapon, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude police with bodily harm, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude police while disobeying two or more traffic control devices and failure to report an accident with injuries. He was also charged with misdemeanor resisting police and driving with a revoked license, according to police.

Police said two Evanston men arrested in January also rammed squad cars and injured officers.

Demarcus Curtis, 24, of the 1500 block of Dodge Avenue, was arrested in Grayslake on Jan. 23 on a warrant related to an Oct. 5, 2018, incident. Police said detectives were dispatched to a drug complaint in the 1100 block of Church Street, where they found a Kia SUV matching the caller's description with Curtis in the passenger seat. According to police, the car smelled of cannabis and detectives ordered Curtis to get out of the vehicle. Instead got into the driver's seat and rammed an Evanston police squad car, injuring the officer inside, before fleeing the wrong way down Church Street. Police said he was charged with four felonies, misdemeanor reckless driving and issued numerous traffic citations.

Justin Neal-Guy, 24, of the 1700 block of Ashland Avenue, was arrested in Chicago on Jan. 14 on a warrant obtained after police said he rammed a squad car and injured two officers. He had been pulled over on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows when officers reported the smell of cannabis and ordered Neal-Guy to get out of his vehicle. He was charged with three felonies and two misdemeanors and issued 13 citations for various traffic offenses, according to police.

Earlier: Fleeing Driver Rams Police Car, Injures 2 Officers: Evanston PD