Suspect Crashes Stolen Car, Escapes K9 Search: Police

LAKE BLUFF, IL — Police interrupted a group of suspects in a string of Lake Bluff car burglaries and thefts early Wednesday morning. Officers first got a call around 4:42 a.m. from a resident in the 200 block of West Blodgett Avenue, who reported hearing car doors slamming and saw two men or boys in the street, police said. The witness told police the pair looked to be entering more nearby vehicles.

When officers arrived, they encountered two vehicles fleeing the area, one of which was determined to have been a Subaru Forester stolen from block where the caller reported the incident to police, according to Lake Bluff Deputy Chief Mike Hosking.

The driver of the Subaru lost control while turning on to Rockland Road from Green Bay and crashed into a wooded area. One person was seen leaving the car and running southwest across Rockland. A Bannockburn K9 responded and followed the trail a couple blocks west to the parking lot of the Target at 975 Rockland Rd. but lost the scent or track at that point, Hosking said. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Lake Bluff & Lake Forest — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Meanwhile, another vehicle, a dark colored Dodge SUV that had been reported stolen from Countryside Tuesday, fled south on Green Bay Road, heading down Route 41 at a high rate of speed. A third vehicle, a black Ford Focus police believe might have been involved, appeared to flee west on Route 176.