Trooper forced to cling to sunroof of car fleeing I-290 traffic stop

A scene that could have been staged in an action movie instead played out on a city highway earlier this week when an Illinois State Police trooper was forced to cling to the sunroof of a car as it sped across several lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway while fleeing a traffic stop.

The driver who allegedly took off from the Wednesday morning stop, Steven Carlson Gouveia, now faces a charge of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. The 31-year-old was denied bail during a hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Gouveia breathed heavily and nodded along when Judge David Navarro said it was a “miracle” that the trooper wasn’t badly hurt or killed in the incident.

State police said Trooper Brian Spillane, a 12-year veteran, was taken to a hospital with an injury from the wild encounter, but has since been released.

Spillane’s close call comes after three troopers have been killed and at least 16 struck by vehicle this year.

Spillane was conducting a separate traffic stop about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday on outbound Interstate 290 near Damen Avenue when Gouveia’s 2011 Acura nearly struck Spillane as Gouveia tried to merge onto the expressway, according to Cook County prosecutors and state police.

Spillane left the vehicle from his initial traffic stop and walked toward the Acura and shouted for Gouveia to pull over, according to prosecutors and Chicago police records.

When Gouveia refused to follow his orders, the trooper shouted at Gouveia to stop the car, authorities said. Instead, Gouveia turned his wheels toward the interstate and hit the gas as the trooper was standing near the front right fender of his Acura, authorities said.

Spillane ran alongside the Acura and tried opening the passenger door, but it was locked, prosecutors said. The trooper then grabbed a hold of the inside of the Acura’s open sunroof and pulled himself on top of the car.

With the trooper riding the top of the car, Gouveia accelerated across all four lanes of traffic on the expressway, prosecutors said. Spillane was able to pull himself into the Acura through the sunroof and fight for control of the car.

The trooper eventually was able to grab hold of the shifter and put the car in park, coming to a stop about 50 yards away, according to a police report.

Gouveia continued to fight with the trooper as he tried to reach under the driver’s seat, prosecutors said.

Spillane, “using only his left hand” was able to grab Gouveia’s head and push it into the seat, preventing Gouveia from reaching under the driver’s seat, police said. Investigators later found 18 grams of marijuana under the seat.

Prosecutors said Gouveia shouldn’t have been driving in the first place. His license was suspended after he was charged last year with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence.

A court-appointed assistant public defender for Gouveia said he is currently enrolled at Harold Washington College and works as a bartender and leasing agent.

Judge Navarro said Gouveia was fortunate the state trooper wasn’t killed and that Gouveia’s alleged actions didn’t cause a crash on an expressway “that, frankly, is always busy.”

Navarro ordered Gouveia held without bail and set his next court date for June 12.