Man charged with smashing at least 15 vehicles with ax in Berwyn

A west suburban man who went on a rampage, damaging at least 15 vehicles with an ax Saturday morning, finally surrendered to police after a vehicle pursuit left him cornered in an alley.

Just after 11 a.m. Saturday, Berwyn police received several 911 calls about a “disturbance” in the area of 3400 block of South Ridgeland Avenue, a statement from police said.

Callers claimed a man was “swinging an ax at people and vehicles,” police said. By the time officers arrived, however, the suspect had driven off in a Mercedes SUV westbound on Ogden Avenue.

It didn’t take long for him to strike again.

Just minutes later, police received a call that a man matching the suspect’s description was again “damaging vehicles with an ax” in the 3700 block of Wesley. Other callers told police when he drove away west on 39th Street.

Police soon spotted the vehicle, and activated lights and sirens for a traffic stop. But the man sped away, with police in pursuit, until he was “boxed in” in the alley in the 1900 block Ridgeland-Cuyler alley, police said. He then surrendered.

1st Ward Ald. Scott Lennon wrote on Facebook “We just had a situation in Berwyn where a male suspect was driving around ramming vehicles, swinging an ax at people, the chase went from North Berwyn to South Berwyn, Lyons and Cicero.”

Thach Ho, 43, a former Berwyn resident who now lives in Burbank, faces 10 felony counts of criminal damage to property, and one felony count of aggravated fleeing and eluding; four misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property, and misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs, police said. He also received several traffic citations, police said.

2nd Ward Ald. Jose Ramirez wrote on Facebook he was “sorry” to hear about the incident, but was “glad no one was hurt.”