97 MPH Driver On Ridge Road Tried To Flee Joliet Police: Cops

JOLIET, IL - A 32-year-old man named Jason Robert Daniels was arrested by the Joliet Police Department around 6 a.m. Sunday after police say he tried to flee police officers trying to stop him after he was clocked for speeding 97 mph in a 45-mph zone along Ridge Road. Daniels, who was reportedly found in a corn field, was subsequently arrested on charges of speeding by more than 35 mph above the posted limit, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer as well as driving with a revoked license and operating without insurance, police said.

According to the Joliet Police Department, officers were running radar and monitoring traffic on Ridge Road when they saw a black Ford Taurus "at what appeared to be an extremely high rate of speed."

"Officers used a radar gun to check the speed of the car which registered at 97 mph. This was in a 45 mph posted area. Officers attempted to catch up to the vehicle with their emergency lights and siren activated. The vehicle accelerated and fled South on Ridge," police reports show.

According to police, the black Taurus committed multiple other traffic violations as Joliet Police officers terminated the pursuit since they were near city of Joliet limits.

However, officers alerted other area police departments to be on the watch for the fleeing driver.

"Officers were advised by JPD dispatch that (the) Minooka Police Department, Grundy County Sheriff, and Kendall County Sheriff located a black vehicle with dealer plates in the cornfield at the intersection of Ridge & Bell Road, which matched the description of the offending vehicle," police said.

The area was searched and the driver "was eventually found trying to hide in a cornfield nearby. Daniels was identified and that a check of his driver’s license showed it was revoked," police reports show.

A mugshot of Jason Daniels was not immediately available. The arrest log indicates Daniels was later freed on a $2,000 I-Bond. A Joliet Police news release indicated that Daniels lives in Michigan, however, an arrest log listed Daniels as residing in Morris.

Image of Ridge Road and Bell Road via Google Maps