MORTON GROVE, IL — Two men are accused of fleeing police in stolen cars Monday in Morton Grove, with one charged with a possessing a gun with a “switch.” A third suspect remains at large, police said.
Morton Grove police said they were alerted around 6:15 p.m. to the presence of two stolen Mercedes sedans that were wanted “in connection with carjacking incidents in Aurora” by an automated license plate reader, or ALPR, system.
Officers found the two Mercedes in the 6300 block of Dempster Street and both cars fled. One stopped near the intersection of Smithwood Drive and Georgiana Avenue and two people took off running from inside, police said.
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One escaped and one was later arrested, according to a police spokesperson.
Police used a drone and at least one police dog and got help from officers from Niles, Skokie, Northbrook and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Officers later found a gun in the car, police said.
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Morton Grove police pulled over the other Mercedes in the 8600 block of Austin Avenue. But it fled again and caused a “significant” crash at the intersection of Austin and Lincoln avenues, according to a department spokesperson.
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Keshawn Hawthorne, 19, of the 10000 block of South Forest Avenue, Chicago, and Brandon Williams, 19, of the 300 block of Gramercy Drive, Rockford, are due to appear in court for a first appearance in Skokie Wednesday afternoon.
Hawthorne has been charged with the class X felony “possession of a machine gun,” a conviction for which which carries a minimum prison sentence of six years.
Police said he was the driver of the first car and was linked to the gun — a pistol with an extended magazine that had been modified to fire with a single pull of the trigger.
After pulling over the first car, he got into the second stolen Mercedes, which was driven by Williams, according to the spokesperson.
Hawthorne and Williams have also been charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, a non-detainable offense under provisions of the Pretrial Fairness Act that took effect last year.
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