Police chase, standoff closes Lake Shore Drive for several hours
March 16, 2014 (CHICAGO)
PHOTOS: Police chase, standoff closes Lake Shore Drive
Just before 5 p.m., SWAT teams moved in and surrounded the black vehicle where the suspect is believed to be contained.
The police pursuit began just after noon on Sunday in south suburban Harvey, where sources say police were helping to apprehend a murder suspect from Georgia. Police pursued his car up the Dan Ryan to Lake Shore Drive, where the crash occurred that injured a Chicago police officer.
The car police were pursuing crashed on a grassy area east of Lake Shore Drive, just north of the Theater on the Lake. Police demanded through a loudspeaker that the man inside the car to "show me your hands" and "put your hands up."
Standoff centers on Ga. murder suspect
The police chase started in south suburban Harvey at 148th Street and Myrtle, just one block from the suspect's childhood home. Harvey police say they located 43-year-old Joseph Felton, thanks to GPS information provided by police in Georgia, who called just before 12:30 Sunday requesting their help. Felton is being sought in connection to his wife's murder. She was found dead inside the couple's Hampton, Ga. home on Sunday.
"Family was worried and went to check up on her. When they couldn't get in, they forced their way inside," said Sgt. Joey Smith, Hampton, Ga. Police Dept.
"It's crazy. It's crazy. That's all I can say. I never expected this," said Meshak Johnson, suspect's friend.
Police say Felton and his wife, Sheray-Mays Felton, moved from University Park, Illinois to the suburbs of Atlanta back in November. In January, police were called to their home and Felton arrested as a result of a domestic incident. In University Park on Sunday, former next door neighbor Abdul Mahdi says in the two years they lived here police came knocking on his door twice after being called out by Felton's wife.
"Two times. Obviously they had been fighting. She probably told the police he didn't live there. So they wanted to know, I told them I saw him on a regular basis. I don't know their domestic issues," said Mahdi.
While Felton still has family in Chicago, why he was in Harvey on Sunday is not known. A former friend of the family tells ABC7 tonight they've been gone for years-- the family home foreclosed upon after the parents' death. Meanwhile, police in Georgia will not reveal the way in which Felton's wife was killed, but say they are confident he is their man.
"There was enough evidence at the scene to lead us to obtaining a charge for murder," said Sgt. Smith.
The Chicago Police officer injured in this pursuit and crash is in good condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in Lakeview, fire officials said.
Chicago police had no immediate comment.
Standoff creates traffic nightmare on North Side
The standoff was creating a traffic nightmare on Lake Shore Drive, where the southbound lanes have been closed from Belmont to North Avenue, and the northbound lanes are closed from Monroe to Belmont. Drivers are being asked to avoid the area if possible.
Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd Ward, says the following locations have also been closed: Lincoln Park, Peggy Notebaert Nature museum, and area bike and running trails. A Lincoln Park Zoo official says the zoo is open.
"We wanted to abandon the car several times and run, we could have walked at this pace to get where we were going and back. It's really crazy, and people are running all the lights because there's no way to get through them," said Greta Giesen, motorist.
Giesen said her trip from Dearborn and Division to Belmont and Lake Shore Drive normally takes 20 minutes, but on Sunday, it took her an hour and a half.