Theft Suspect Flees Ill. Police, Crashes

Jan. 24, 2012
A Trivoli man sped away from a deputy early Tuesday in a chase that led to a crash and the discovery of copper items that apparently were stolen, police said.

HANNA CITY - A Trivoli man sped away from a deputy early Tuesday in a chase that led to a crash and the discovery of copper items that apparently were stolen, police said.

Dylan Phillips, 20, of 203 N. Garfield Road in Trivoli was admitted to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria but discharged the same day.

He was ticketed on charges of aggravated reckless driving, aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude police, improper lighting, no seat belt, speeding, disobeying a traffic control device and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

A resident in the 1700 block of North Eden Road in Hanna City awoke early Tuesday to go to work when she noticed a man on the monitor of her home security system. He was walking on her driveway from the garage.

The homeowner called police at 4:06 a.m. and gave dispatchers updates of the man's movement around her property while she could still see him on the home video system. He got in his car and drove off the property just before police arrived.

A Peoria County sheriff's deputy responding to the call encountered the driver on Eden Road and attempted to make a traffic stop. The driver accelerated as the deputy activated his emergency lights and attempted to catch up.

The deputy noted in a report that he hit speeds above 80 mph without closing the gap between the squad car and the suspect vehicle, which crossed Illinois Route 116 without slowing for the stop sign. The vehicle then turned onto Pleasant Grove Road and hit an embankment in the 15800 block, where it overturned.

The driver fled into the woods, where Phillips was later found with the help of a thermal imaging device from a responding fire department. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of head and chest injuries.

Inside the wrecked vehicle, deputies found pipe and other copper items that appeared to have been stolen during previous incidents, police said.

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or [email protected]

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