Man charged in weekend crime spree, police chase from Hammond to Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A man has been charged in a car chase and crime spree that stretched from northwest Indiana to Chicago on Saturday.

Hammond police said 27-year-old Khalil Blalock of Lansing, Illinois, has been charged with two counts of armed robbery, one count of felony intimidation, and one count of criminal recklessness with a firearm.

Police said the entire episode started in Hammond, Indiana, and ended in a shootout in Chicago's East Chatham neighborhood.

RELATED: 3 injured after police chase from northwest Indiana to Chicago ends in shootout

Investigators said two Hammond police officers were injured during an exchange of gunfire with the two suspects. The crime spree began Saturday at about noon, when two men reported they had been held up at their vehicle, while stopped at a train crossing. The suspects fled in a silver sedan.

A few minutes later, police received a second 911 call. In this case, a woman reported that a man in a silver vehicle had yelled at her before shooting once at her car.

Again, the male suspect and his female driver got away.

It wasn't until a few hours later that police got a second call from the female victim, telling them she had spotted the suspects' vehicle just blocks from where the shooting occurred. Officers arrived and attempted to stop the suspects, at which time the chase into Chicago began.

The vehicle finally stopped in East Chatham, and an exchange of gunfire took place. Two officers and the female driver were injured.

A toddler was later spotted inside the suspects' vehicle. The child wasn't injured but was taken to Comer Children's Hospital for a routine checkup.

Hammond police said more charges could be coming for both the Indiana incident and the incidents that took place in Chicago. The woman who was taken into custody has not yet been charged.