'I've never seen anything like that': Urbana couple witnesses end of police chase

URBANA — Phoebe Emerson was gardening outside her house Thursday evening in east Urbana when her boyfriend, Matthew Albritton, arrived home on his bicycle and asked if she heard the sirens.

Before he could say anything else, a silver sedan barreled down South Philo Road and went over the curb, its bumper flying off as it landed in an empty grass lot in the 700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.

The couple then saw the vehicle’s doors open and three people jump out and disperse through a nearby crop of trees, as nearly a dozen wailing squad cars descended on the scene.

“He was like, ‘You hear those sirens?’ and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and as soon as that happened, we see the car,” Emerson said. “It kind of crashed, bounced into something to the point where it came to a stop, and then the police pull up immediately behind it onto the grass. They had their canines out; it was a huge police presence.”

The vehicular pursuit, crash and ensuing foot chase resulted in the apprehension of three juveniles and various charges including aggravated fleeing, aggravated resisting, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful possession of ammunition.

An adult in the car was also detained and released, while a fifth individual apparently escaped.

Looking out their window from inside their front room, Emerson said it was surreal to see the formation of officers approach the crashed car and, shortly after, two people get caught and escorted into custody. It struck her how small one of them was.

“There was that one who was being walked back with two police next to them, and I was shocked that it was seemingly a middle school kid, handcuffed,” Emerson said. “Normally you can be like, ‘Is that a small adult?’ No, there was no denying that was an actual child.”

Urbana police said in a news release late Thursday night that the chase began at 6:53 p.m. after an Urbana patrol sergeant saw a vehicle turn in “a dangerous maneuver” at the intersection of Washington and Vine streets. At least one of the car’s occupants allegedly displayed a firearm.

Albritton said he was on his bike near the intersection of South Vine and East Oregon streets when he noticed a parked squad car flash its lights on and, right after, the silver sedan crossed Vine and accelerated west down Oregon.

“Right when I saw it coming, I pulled over to get out of its way, so it sped right past me,” Albritton said, adding that he heard the sirens of the multiple other squad cars once he crossed Vine.

Urbana police said the fleeing vehicle refused to stop but eventually ran off the road and struck a residential garbage can before coming to a rest in the lot. They said no one was injured in the crash.

The three juveniles were ultimately taken to the Champaign County Youth Detention Center. While ammunition was found inside the vehicle, officers did not locate a firearm. Police urge anyone who may find one on their property to call 911.

About 40 minutes after the crash, Emerson and Albritton saw a tow truck drag the stolen vehicle away and heard on a police scanner that one of the other runners may have been spotted near the Urbana Schnucks. The majority of the squad cars then peeled off.

The couple, who said the area is otherwise a quiet part of town, said their next main concern was that officers don’t profile and pick up neighborhood children uninvolved with the incident.

“There’s nothing like that that’s ever happened, so it was jarring for sure,” Emerson said. “It was just very strange. Like, kids play out here. Kids play out here all the time.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Albritton said.