Skokie Man Facing Felonies After Crashing Car Into Evanston Apartment, Fleeing Scene

EVANSTON, IL — A Skokie man who crashed a car into an Evanston apartment building and ran away Monday faces multiple felony charges after he was found hiding under a porch an hour later, police said. The incident began shortly after 6:30 p.m. when officers on patrol pulled over a Honda sedan for failing to use a turn signal in the 1600 block of Foster Street.

As police walked over the car to speak with the driver, he put the car in drive and fled northbound in an alley in the 2000 block of Darrow. According to Evanston Police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan, another squad car happened to be in the area and saw the vehicle flee eastbound past on Simpson Street past Green Bay Road.

Within minutes, dispatchers received a report that a car had crashed into a building in the 1100 block of Simpson Street, police said. When officers arrived, the found the empty car smashed into the ground floor brickwork of a multi-unit residential building. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major structural damage to the building. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Evanston — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Police also said they found 3.3 grams of cocaine inside the vehicle.

The driver, 49-year-old William L. Reed, of the 4800 block of Conrad Street in Skokie, was found around 7:20 p.m. hiding under a porch in the 2100 block of Ridge Road, Dugan said. He was treated for minor injuries from the accident at Evanston Hospital.

Reed, who already had three active arrest warrants related to previous traffic offenses, was charged with one count of felony aggravated feeling and eluding, one count of felony possession of a controlled substance, 11 various traffic citations, according to police.

_{Top photo via Evanston Fire Department}