Police: Clocked over 120 mph, former cop hits deputy with motorcycle

A former north suburban police officer, caught on radar doing over 120 mph on his motorcycle, made things worse by running down a sheriff’s deputy with his bike while trying to avoid a traffic stop, according to police.

Gunnar L. Gudmundson, 25, was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer, and aggravated fleeing and eluding, both felonies; and was ticketed for speeding and several other traffic violations, according to the Lake County sheriff’s office.

About 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, a deputy saw a motorcycle going at a high rate of speed on Milwaukee Avenue, just north of Route 137 near Libertyville, police said. His radar gun caught the bike going 121 mph.

Gudmundson tried to avoid the deputy by making a U-turn and pulling into a business parking lot at Route 137 and Bell Lane. The deputy followed, got out of his car and tried to arrest Gudmundson, but he “started his motorcycle and accelerated, striking the deputy,” police said.

The deputy was knocked to the ground, and Gudmundson fell off the bike, police said. He started to run away, but was chased down and caught by the deputy a short time later, with the help of a good Samaritan, police said.

The deputy suffered a hand injury, and was treated at a local hospital.

Gudmundson was a probationary police officer in Vernon Hills from January through October 2016, before resigning, according to a spokesman for the village.

He had been an officer with the North Chicago Police Department from July 2014 until his employment was terminated in 2016, according to minutes of North Chicago City Council and Board of Fire and Police Commissioners meetings.

The Gurnee resident was ordered held at the Lake County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 5 in Waukegan.