| Car hijack suspect in custody |
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| Written by Andrew Steckling, Daily Vidette Reporter |
| Tuesday, 01 September 2009 21:04 |
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There is closure for the Aug. 25 vehicular hijacking case after Normal police officers apprehended a suspect early Aug. 31. Police apprehended the suspect, whose name is being withheld for security purposes, around noon at his residence in Hilltop Mobile Home Park in Bloomington. An anonymous tip from someone who knew the suspect was given to the Normal Police Department. “We developed leads by using most of the information gathered from both the acquaintance and the crime itself,” Sergeant Dan Kelley, criminal investigations division supervisor, said. A search for the suspect initiated after the crime occurred at 8:52 p.m. on Aug. 25, when the suspect forcefully entered a student’s car by knifepoint at the 200 Block of West Locust Street and battered the victim before taking their vehicle. Minor details of the suspect, including age, height and weight were included in a press release by the NPD three days after the incident. Kelley said he was relieved with the turnaround from the report to the capture. “One can never know for sure how quickly these things will be resolved. It depends on what kind of information we can retrieve from the physical evidence we’re presented. “Luckily, we were able to recover the car, which greatly helped our efforts,” he said. Kelley said the act was random, and the victim, who only escaped the crime with minor injuries, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. “The suspect was looking for a way to leave the area, and what happened next happened. It was just a matter of timing,” he said. ISU Police posted a crime alert within 24 hours of the occurring events. Kelley said the NPD and ISU Police keep open lines of communication, and information regarding the incident was passed along to ISU after it occurred. A secondary alert was posted early yesterday to inform the campus community that the suspect had been taken into custody by Normal police. “We wanted to alert our community that the individual who we were looking for in the case was, in fact, arrested,” Ronald Swan, ISU Chief of Police, said. “We wanted to reassure the community that local law enforcement has taken care of the situation.” The suspect is currently being held at McLean County Jail on one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking, one count of aggravated armed robbery, one count theft of a motor vehicle and one count of aggravated battery. As of press time, the suspect is waiting to go in front of a judge to determine his bond. |
