Suspect arrested after wrong-way chase on northbound Dan Ryan

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A car parts thief led Chicago police on a wild wrong-way chase on the Dan Ryan Expressway Friday morning. The suspect was eventually arrested on a South Side CTA platform.

The vehicle and foot chase ended at 79th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, but began several blocks away in a South Side neighborhood where residents say the man and his accomplice were stealing catalytic converters off parked cars.

"We've had on this block at least five times. One person had been hit at least five times," said neighborhood resident Carlos Trigleth.

It happened early Friday morning at 79th and Eberhard, where 9-1-1 callers to police said the auto parts thieves were targeting vehicles.

As officers arrived, one of the alleged suspects tried to flee in his green Buick Regal, but ended up crashing into two unsuspecting commuters. One of those was Al Anderson, who was on his way to work.

"I passed that intersection and a green blur came from the wrong way and hits me," he said.

After crashing into the motorists, authorities say the suspect jumped out of his car and into the red SUV driven by his female accomplice. In the next few minutes, that vehicle ends up near the 79th Street exit ramp from the Dan Ryan Expressway, where the male suspect bailed out of the car, running onto the highway.

Traffic nearly came to a standstill as a Chicago Police squad car drove the wrong way down the shoulder of the road in pursuit. Both were eventually taken into custody as some unlucky motorists targeted by the duo were left to deal with costly repairs.

Velesquez Muffler and Brakes manager Ivan Valdez says catalytic converters replacement can cost $1,000 or more.

"Last week we just fixed new models, five cars the same day," he said.

A vehicle's catalytic converter converts harmful emissions into harmless compounds.

The devices are valuable when sold as scrap because they contain traces of very pricey metals like platinum, which is currently worth around $1,500 an ounce.

It's a growing problem Chicago resident Curtis Burgon would like to see end.

"When you have something like this it doesn't just make the block unsafe it makes it uninhabitable, you don't want to stay here," he said.

At least one of the scrap metal business ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke with, that did not want to talk on camera, said they don't buy catalytic converters from the public because of the chance the item might be stolen.

Because of an Illinois law that took effect in January of this year, scrap dealers are required to record three forms of identification on anyone selling a hundred dollars or more of metal.

Both repair shop owners and authorities encourage victims of this kind of theft to file a police report. This serves two purposes, as it alerts officers about the problem and also may help prevent it from happening to someone else.