Drug suspect gets away from BPD, captured in Peoria

Posted on October 16, 2019
Bloomington Police Department
A suspect in a Bloomington Police drug investigation got away from authorities in the downtown area Wednesday and fled to Peoria. The man is now in police custody. (WJBC file photo)

 

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police avoided danger to themselves and perhaps the public by not chasing after a suspected drug offender who escaped from the downtown area and fled to Peoria.

As it turned out, police got their man and no one was hurt.

Public Information Officer John Fermon said a street crimes vice unit officer conducting a drug investigation tried to arrest the man who was driving a stolen silver Jeep with Michigan license plates near Main and Jefferson Streets about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

“The suspect got out of the car, (and) ran away. We had our K9 unit there. The suspect got back in the vehicle, was able to get free, and then basically rammed into one of our street crime units, took off the bumper, and then fled at a high rate of speed through downtown,” Fermon said.

Police chose not to chase the suspect because a high-speed pursuit is dangerous when there are many innocent bystanders nearby, according to Fermon.

“It’s a dangerous situation when you get a vehicle driving recklessly through a highly populated area. You never know what to expect,” said Fermon.

“A vehicle hits a person walking, then it could be fatal,” Fermon added.

Peoria Police Public Information Officer Amy Dotson told our news partner Heart of Illinois-ABC that authorities captured the suspect Wednesday afternoon on the Bob Michel Bridge in Downtown Peoria.

Police are not releasing the suspect’s name or details about the alleged drug crimes.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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