Stop Sticks Stopped Him, Now It's Time For Shorewood Police Detainee To Lose His Car Forever: Forfeiture

SHOREWOOD, IL — The Will County State's Attorney's Office is showing no letup in terms of identifying vehicles belonging to criminal defendants for the purposes of seizing them under the state's civil forfeiture laws.

One of the newest cases filed inside the Will County Courthouse pertains to 34-year-old Austin Lyle. The Bloomington motorist has remained in the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act since Shorewood police captured him with the help of the Channahon Police Department's stop sticks on Aug. 30.

According to last week's forfeiture filing, prosecutors are now hoping to turn Lyle's 2007 Honda Accord into a forfeited asset for the police. He's accused of using his car in connection with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and for having no valid driver's license.

The civil forfeiture complaint indicates that on Aug. 30, Shorewood police officer Hjerpe was patrolling near the BP Gas Station off the Interstate 55 exit ramp when he spotted Lyle's Honda Accord parked near the station. He discovered that Lyle's license was revoked four different times for DUIs.

When the officer saw Lyle drive away from the gas station, heading east bound on Jefferson Street, the officer activated his emergency lights and sirens, but Lyle floored the gas and sped southbound along I-55 ramp, court files show. The chasing officer reached 120 mph, and Lyle was still not slowing down, the forfeiture noted.

Meanwhile, Channahon police helped on the call by placing stop sticks north of the I-55 ramp near their community.

"Channahon police officers radioed that the stop sticks made positive contact with the tires on the ... vehicle," court documents reflect.

Lyle's Honda Accord came to a halt along I-55 south of the southwest frontage road overpass and that's where the Shorewood officer put Lyle under arrest for aggravated fleeing and eluding the police.

The officer realized Lyle "had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath and that Austin Lyle had slow, slurred speech and Austin Lyle's eyes were red and glassy," court records pointed out.

WESCOM's 911 dispatchers relayed that Lyle had a revoked Illinois license and the officer from Shorewood saw an open 24-ounce container of Icehouse beer on the floorboard behind the driver's seat and an open 1.75-liter bottle of Tito's Vodka, court records noted.

At the Shorewood police station, Lyle refused to provide a breath sample; he was taken to the Will County Jail and that's where he remains almost three months later.

The civil forfeiture filing indicates the 2007 Honda Accord is registered back to Austin Lyle and Carol Lyle, both of Lake Fork Road in Bloomington.

The car forfeiture is set for Nov. 18 at the Will County Courthouse.

Meanwhile, on the criminal side of things, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Lyle back on Aug. 31 with aggravated driving under the influence. The criminal complaint indicates this marked his fifth DUI; his previous ones were on Nov. 22, 2014 in McLean County, Sept. 7, 2014, out of McLean County, March 6, 2016 out of McLean County and then April 6, 2024, also in McLean County.

His other pending criminal charges in Will County include aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, aggravated driving while license revoked, aggravated driving under the influence and aggravated speeding.

The criminal complaint accuses Lyle of driving his Honda Accord sedan on I-55 in Shorewood "at a speed that was 35 miles per hour or more in excess of the applicable maximum speed limit."