Bleeding Man Arrested On Metra Train Sentenced To 3 Years

SKOKIE, IL — A Chicago man arrested in March after police said he fled a traffic stop, broke into a residential garage and a business before fighting with officers on a Metra train was sentenced last week to three years in prison. Davontay Thomas, 20, of Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of burglary, aggravated battery to a police officer and attempting to disarm police, according to court records.

The charges resulted from a series of incidents on the night of March 27 and early morning hours of March 28 that led to a bloody Thomas being taken into custody on a commuter train in Evanston, according to Evanston, Kenilworth and Wilmette police.

Thomas' encounters with police that night began around 11:48 p.m. when an officer pulled over a speeding car at Sheridan Road and Kenilworth Avenue, according to Kenilworth Police Chief David Miller. The officer spoke to the driver and four passengers, who included a 4-year-old. The driver sped away instead of providing identification.

Due to the safety of the child and the severity of the offense, police did not pursue, Miller said the next morning.

About five minutes later, officers found the vehicle parked at Roslyn Road and Melrose Avenue. Police said the driver had fled on foot.

Several hours later, Wilmette police said they discovered a burglary to an auto repair shop in the 1200 block of Green Bay Road where someone had broken a window and left behind a "substantial amount of blood." The burglar had apparently cut themselves while breaking a rear window of the business, police said.

A Wilmette officer noticed a man on a southbound Metra train a short time later who matched the description of the driver in the Kenilworth incident, according Wilmette Police Chief Kyle Murphy. Police said they ordered the train to stop in Evanston and found Thomas bleeding from cuts to his arms.

Thomas resisted as police tried to take him into custody, battering the officers and trying to grab one of their weapons, police said.

Kenilworth police later learned that Thomas had also broken into a detached garage in the 400 block of Cumnor Road and stolen some items, according to Miller.

At the time of his arrest, Thomas had an active arrest warrant for failure to appear in court in connection with a separate burglary charge resulting from an arrest by Naperville police. That case remains active, according to DuPage County court records.

Earlier: Bloody Burglar Battered Cop After 5-Hour Caper, Police Say »