CHICAGO (WLS) — A 26-year-old Calumet City man has been charged in a high-speed chase last week.
Kirk D. Chamberlain, Jr. has been charged with resisting law enforcement and neglect of a dependent.
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Relatives said Chamberlain was in the car with his daughter when he was stopped by police in Hammond, Indiana, last Tuesday. They claim he only took off out of fear.
Exclusive video shows when Chopper 7 began tracking the police pursuit on the Bishop Ford Freeway with a 4-year-old girl, authorities say, in the speeding car.
The chase continued onto the inbound side of the Dan Ryan.
A high-speed police chase on the Dan Ryan Expressway ended when the driver abandoned the car with a child inside.
The black BMW was seen weaving in and out of traffic, during the evening rush hour, before getting off at 59th and speeding through several streets and even a yard.
The driver’s family said the child is the man’s daughter, and his girlfriend says she was on the phone with him during the chase.
“He start seeing just steady build up and build up. I asked him, ‘Why?’ He said he don’t know why they on him. He didn’t know at all,” she said.
Tire marks led to the crash site, where Chamberlain eventually bailed out of the car and left his daughter behind near 53rd and Morgan, steps away from his relatives’ home.
He was soon caught, and officers used a Taser on him. ABC7 saw him being treated by paramedics on scene before being taken into custody.
Lake County, Indiana deputies said this all began when Highland police tried to stop the car in Hammond, as part of a joint law enforcement operation involving multiple agencies.
Deputies would not confirm the reason behind the traffic stop, saying it is under investigation.
The suspect’s aunt, Sheena, told ABC7 the deputies “pulled him over and said that his car was stolen because of his license plates. Now, he has dealer’s plates because he has his dealer’s license.”
And she claims he took off because “He got nervous, because it was more than one cop car.”
But, in a statement to ABC7, the Lake County, Indiana sheriff said, in part, “There was no indication of a stolen plate… The subject could have easily pulled over, but instead fled at a high rate of speed, endangering the 4-year-old passenger and others.”
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
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