Palatine officer fatally shoots man who tried to run him over: police

SHARE Palatine officer fatally shoots man who tried to run him over: police
document.jpeg

A Palatine police squad car. | File photo courtesy of Palatine police

A police officer fatally shot a man who allegedly tried to run him over Sunday morning in the northwest suburb, during an investigation into the death of an Arizona woman.

Just before 2 a.m., an officer responding to a 911 call about a “murder” in the 300 block of North Brockway Street encountered a vehicle hurtling toward him and another person who lived nearby, according to a statement from Palatine Police Department Cmdr. Craig Lesselyoung.

The officer had been questioning the local resident about the reported murder when the vehicle “intentionally” rammed into both of them “at a high rate of speed,” police said. The driver had steered it off the pavement of a parking lot and into the grass where the two stood.

The officer fired into the vehicle as he was struck, striking the driver multiple times, police said. The vehicle crashed into a multi-resident building at 308 N. Brockway St.

The driver, identified as 51-year-old Leslie Vaughan, died at the scene, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

After inspecting the street’s buildings, officers discovered the body of 74-year-old Polly A. Vaughan of Peoria, Arizona, inside one of the apartments, authorities said. An autopsy found she died of multiple sharp force injuries and her death was ruled a homicide.

Police said Leslie and Polly Vaughan were son and daughter.

The Cook County Major Case Assistance Team was investigating the officer-involved shooting and will join Palatine police in investigating the death of the woman. Representatives of the Illinois State Police and Cook County sheriff’s office said the agencies are not investigating the incident.

Police Chief Alan Stoeckel said Palatine officers are not issued body-worn cameras and that the shooting occurred out of view of dash-mounted cameras in the officers’ vehicle.

Contributing: Tom Schuba

The Latest
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”
That the Bears can just diesel their way in, Bronko Nagurski-style, and attempt to set a sweeping agenda for the future of one of the world’s most iconic water frontages is more than a bit troubling.
Only two days after an embarrassing loss to lowly Washington, the Bulls put on a defensive clinic against Indiana.