Second CPD officer to be released from hospital after fatal chase

The second Chicago Police officer injured in a chase Friday was expected to be released from the hospital Sunday, following the high-speed pursuit from south suburban Tinley Park that ended with two robbery suspects dead in a crash on the Far South Side.

Another hospitalized officer was released Saturday, and two more were treated and released after the crash that happened about 11:30 a.m. in the West Pullman neighborhood, according to Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

It started just before 11 a.m. in the parking lot of an Arby’s restaurant at 191st and Harlem in Tinley Park, where the restaurant manager was robbed while heading out to make a bank deposit, according to Tinley Park Police Chief Steve Neubauer.

The suspects took off in a gold sedan, which Illinois State Police spotted on Interstate 57 heading toward Chicago, Neubauer said.

Chicago Police joined as the chase went off the highway, and an unmarked squad SUV slammed into the suspects’ car at the intersection of 124th Street and Union, police said.

Two people inside the car died after the crash. Ronald Arrington, 22, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 12:39 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived near the crash site, in the 12400 block of South Union. Jimmy Malone, 26, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:28 p.m., authorities said. His home address was unknown.

Two other men in the vehicle suffered injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening and were expected to face criminal charges in Will County, Guglielmi said Sunday. Tinley Park police could not immediately be reached for more details.

Local resident Regina Raines said she was driving near South Halsted and 127th and witnessed a few blocks of the chase moments before it ended. The gold sedan was racing east on West 127th Street, pursued by “at least 20″ squad cars from Chicago and other jurisdictions, Raines said. When the sedan approached the end of a line of cars stopped at the intersection, it veered onto the sidewalk, she said.

“At that point, I think they should end the chase. You’re getting into a neighborhood,” Raines said. “I don’t know what (crime) they were running from, but I don’t know what could be more dangerous than driving around like that in a neighborhood. They were running, but the police was behind them.”