Mokena man jailed after leading police on chase on I-80
By BRIAN STANLEY Bstanley@stmedianetwork.com October 18, 2012 12:02PM
Daniel J. Bakalik
Updated: November 20, 2012 10:54AM
OTTAWA — Police say a Mokena man in a stolen car led officers on a highway chase from Ottawa to Minooka Thursday morning.
Around 4:30 a.m. officers learned a Mazda pickup truck had been taken from the 1500 block of Mulberry Street and the vehicle was spotted on Norris Drive, Ottawa police Capt. Mike Kessinger said.
The driver of the pickup, Daniel J. Bakalik, refused to pull over and led several police cars on a pursuit through downtown Ottawa, police said. A LaSalle County Sheriff’s deputy deployed “stop sticks” that punctured the pickup’s left rear tire, but the chase continued onto eastbound Interstate 80.
For nearly 30 miles, Illinois State Police and officers from Ottawa, Marseilles, Seneca, Morris, Minooka, LaSalle County, Kendall County and Grundy County cleared traffic and pursued the pickup, police said.
“Around 5:30 a.m. the driver drove off the roadway, crashed through a wire fence and drove into a cornfield,” State Police Sgt. Martez Malone said.
Bakalik then ran from the car and hid in the field for about 10 minutes before he was found by state troopers and turned over to the custody of Ottawa police, police said.
Bakalik, of 9883 Cambridge Court, was arrested on charges of motor vehicle theft and “numerous” traffic offenses, Kessinger said.
Jail records show Bakalik has previously been arrested in Will County for domestic battery and driving on a suspended license.
