Sharks Fish and Chicken in Posen reopens after car crashed into front window following police chase

POSEN, Ill. (WLS) -- The Sharks Fish and Chicken in Posen that had a car crash through the front window Tuesday after a police chase is open and serving customers as usual Wednesday.

If it weren't for the plywood covering the windows, there would be no indication of what happened there Tuesday evening.

"I'm thankful for my life... it was so close," Shark's customer Michelle Whisenton said. "I could have been under the car if I didn't move."

Whisenton is moving gingerly today. She's sore, but grateful, and still in shock.

It was just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when the crash happened. A speeding Honda Pilot that had just been stolen out of Blue Island pulled into a Posen strip mall near the intersection of Kedzie and 147th. The car crashed into Whisenton's vehicle while she was inside Shark's Fish and Chicken picking up dinner for her family.

"I was physically standing in the store in front of the register," Whisenton said. "Next thing I know my car is hit and came through the window. And I'm right there at the register and I quickly moved out of the way."

What happened next was a blur. Nearly as soon as the first vehicle crashed into Whisenton's car, a teenage driver and passenger ran out and away from a Markham police squad car that pulled in right behind them. The officers inside the squad car had initially turned on their lights to pursue, then self-aborted due to traffic conditions, Markham Police Chief Jack Genius said.

"Nothing other than a violent crime with personal injury is worth an accident," Genius said. "The driver of the car ran into a Walgreens into the washroom, where we caught him. The plates were crunched up in the back seat. The driver was a 15-year-old juvenile out of a neighboring town.

As for the restaurant's owner, he's also grateful. Akram Esily has been through this before, when in June 2019 an off-duty Chicago Police officer driving under the influence crashed into a restaurant he owned at 87th and Wood. A woman was killed. Another customer was injured

.

"People died in the store. In a minute I recalled all of this," Easily said. "At the end of the day, everything is okay. Everybody is okay.

The 15-year-old driver of the stolen vehicle has been charged in juvenile court. Police said his passenger got away, but they believe they know who they are looking for.