Man arrested after police chase in stolen vehicle in Aurora

A man has been charged with leading police on a pursuit in a stolen vehicle Monday night in west suburban Aurora.

Brandon L. Rogers, 22, faces two counts of motor vehicle theft, two counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding, and one count of theft, all felonies, according to Aurora police.

A man called police about 6:20 p.m. to report that his 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser had been stolen sometime after 5:50 a.m. while it was parked in the lot at the Downtown Transportation Center, 233 N. Broadway, police said. They keys had been left in the unlocked vehicle at the time.

While an officer was taking the report, a woman approached and said that someone had stolen a rear tire and wheel off of her car while it was parked in the same lot between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., police said.

About 11:30 p.m., another officer spotted two men in the PT Cruiser as it drove past him in the 1200 block of 2nd Avenue. The driver refused to pull over and, with the officer in pursuit, sped away recklessly, running several stop signs, police said. The officer terminated the chase near North Kendall and Fenton streets, but kept the vehicle in his sight as it continued north.

The officer eventually found the vehicle crashed into an unoccupied parked car, and a witness told him that the driver ran away south and the passenger ran west from the crash, police said.

The driver — identified as Rogers — was taken into custody in the 1200 block of Grove Street after he was spotted by another officer, police said. A K-9 Unit was then called to the scene and traced the driver’s route from the stolen vehicle to Rogers. The passenger has not been apprehended.

Rogers, who lives in Aurora, suffered a minor injury to his hand in the crash, but refused medical treatment, police said. He was cited for driving on a revoked license, speeding and leaving the scene of a property damage crash.

The wheel Rogers had stolen off the woman’s car, for which he faces the felony theft charge, was put on the vehicle of one of his acquaintances, police said.

Rogers has been ordered held at the Kane County Adult Justice Center on a $50,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said. He is due back in court on Friday.