Cops: Enterprising teens steal cruiser         8/25/99 

Duo allegedly planned to rob motorists posed as officers

By Richard Zitrin
APBNEWS.COM

CHICAGO, Aug.25- Two Chicago teenagers are in
jail after they stole an unmarked police car in a
plot to pull over and rob motorists, police said
Wednesday.

LEWIS EBERHARDT and Antwain Bailey, both
19, were arrested Monday after they crashed the 
stolen police car while being pursued by officers from 
a suburban force, according to Burbank police Capt.

"They said they knew it was a police car; that's why
they took it," Alexander told APBNews.com today.
"They said they took the police car so they could pull
traffic stops and shake people down."         

The two teens pulled off one $11 heist before they
were caught, Alexander said.

HOT-WIRED A CAPTAIN'S CAR
Their caper began early Monday when they
hot-wired a 1994 Chevrolet Caprice assigned to Chicago
police Capt. Donald Hilbring, an acting district
commander, from outside his South Side home,
Alexander said.

While driving through suburban Burbank around
3:30 a.m. Monday, Eberhardt and Bailey used the
flashing high beams on the unmarked police car to pull
over a Chicago resident on his way to work, Alexander
said.

One of the teens allegedly asked the driver, "What
you got for my breakfast?" The man gave the fake cop
$11, while a passenger said he did not have any money
for him, Alexander said.

The teens tried a similar ruse in suburban Willow
Springs, but the woman they tried to shake down did
not go for their act and drove off, Willow Springs police
said.

'THE CHASE WAS ON'
Meanwhile, the men who had been pulled over in
Burbank flagged down a police officer from another
suburban force, who broadcast a description of the teens
and their vehicle for local police agencies, Alexander
said. Soon after, a Willow Springs officer spotted the
car and attempted to stop the teens, he said.
"They took off, and the chase was on," Alexander
said.

The pursuit ended several miles later in suburban
Oak Lawn when the stolen police car ran up over a curb
and blew two tires, he said. The teens ran away and
were found hiding near a school.

Eberhardt and Bailey are being held on $100,000
bond each in Cook County Jail on charges of
impersonating a police officer, theft, possession of a
stolen car and aggravated fleeing and eluding, Alexander
said.

Richard Zitrin is an APBNews.com national
correspondent.

Back