Four teens charged, guns recovered, after Swansea burglary that led to police chase
The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s office charged four teenagers — including one male and two females under the age of 18 — in connection to a residential burglary that began in Swansea and ended with a police chase into East St. Louis on Sunday.
Police recovered three loaded guns, one fake gun and two stolen cars during the arrests.
Terrez J. Whitehead, 19, of Belleville, and a male juvenile, 17, were each charged with unlawful use of weapons and criminal trespass to a motor vehicle. The juvenile faces an additional charge of residential burglary.
Two juvenile girls were charged with criminal trespass to a motor vehicle. A fifth juvenile, a male, was released without charges “pending further investigation,” according to Illinois State Police Captain Matt Jany of the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force.
Jany said the chase started when a concerned neighbor called the Swansea Police department at 12:52 p.m. Sunday to report a residential burglary in progress in the 1600 block of Caseyville Avenue. Police arrived in the area within minutes because of the neighbor alerted them, Jany said.
Police “observed a blue SUV leaving the area at a high rate of speed,” Jany said, adding that the vehicle had been reported stolen from Madison County.
Swansea and Belleville police pursued the SUV through Belleville and into East St. Louis, where the driver crashed at Church Lane near 78th Street, according to the police report.
As the driver fled the car, police took a 17-year-old in possession of a loaded weapon into custody. A second loaded firearm was recovered from the stolen vehicle. The driver of the stolen car is still at large.
Meanwhile, an Onstar device on the 2013 Chevrolet Equinox stolen in Swansea led police to Cahokia.
“Within minutes, several Cahokia units were in the area and located the vehicle,” said Jany.
Cahokia police pursued the Chevy a short distance until Onstar shut down the vehicle. Officers arrested Whitehead and the two girls after a brief foot chase. They also recovered a third loaded gun and the fake gun, Jany said.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 1:56 PM.
