Man charged with fleeing after cop saw him attempt to stop vehicles

A man was charged with running from police after he was seen using “police-type lights” in an effort to pull over vehicles early Thursday in west suburban Riverside.

At 4:08 a.m., an officer saw a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on Woodside Road near 31st Street, according to Riverside police. The vehicle was clocked at 67 miles per hour, 42 miles over the posted speed limit. The driver was also displaying an oscillating strobe light from inside the vehicle “in an attempt to make traffic stops” on other vehicles.

The officer recalled a dispatch from Countryside police earlier Thursday identifying a similar vehicle that drove off during an attempted traffic stop, police said. The Riverside officer then tried to stop the vehicle near the intersection of Woodside Road and Park Place, but the driver took off. The officer didn’t pursue the vehicle outside of his jurisdiction, but put out an area-wide call to notify other communities of the vehicle.

Later Thursday, the driver, Martin J. Fridrich, attempted a similar traffic stop, causing a disturbance in Burr Ridge, where he was taken into custody, police said. Riverside detectives went to interview Fridrich, who admitted to the previous incident.

During the interview, Fridrich claimed he was a police officer chasing people who had harassed him, police said. Detectives found the claims to be “completely fictitious,” noting that there were no vehicles on the roadway at the time Fridrich was attempting to make the stops.

In addition, Fridrich claimed that law enforcement officials are “demons,” police said.

Fridrich, 40, of Mokena, was charged with a single felony count of aggravated fleeing and eluding police. In addition, he was issued several citations related to the attempted traffic stop by the officer, police said. He is also facing similar charges in Burr Ridge and Countryside.

Fridrich was released on an I-bond on Friday, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.