March 7, 2007, 8:08 PM
A covert patrol officer saw a 1997 blue Ford Explorer ignore a stopsign at 18th and east, then drive through the redlight at East and 16th. Next, the vehicle blew the stopsign at East and 15th. The covert officer called for backup and continued to follow the Explorer. It did stop briefly at 13th Street, but only long enough to disgorge a male passenger, who walked away headed east. The Explorer's strange journey continued west on 13th, ignoring the stopsigns at 13th and Clarence, 13th and Euclid, 13th and Oak Park and 13th and Grove. Then, traveling south on Grove, it naturally ignored the stopsigns at 14th and 15th. Turning right onto 15th, the vehicle briefly drove up on the parkway almost to the sidewalk, then it blew the stopsigns at 15th and Kenilworth, and 15th and Clinton -- after all, why start obeying signs now? When it finally stopped, it parked on a parking pad behind a house in the 1500 block of Home. The driver, a 42-year-old Berwyn man, had a suspended license and resisted being handcuffed. A search of his person revealed a plastic bag containing what proved to be cocaine. The case will continue when he is positively identified.
