Hit-and-run driver charged with striking Chicago police officer directing traffic

A man allegedly drove into a Chicago police sergeant directing traffic on the South Side and sped away while the officer held onto the hood of the car.

The sergeant was working in Jackson Park on June 11 when Joshua Hudson disregarded signals from the sergeant and accelerated toward him, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

Hudson, 21, struck the sergeant and continued to speed east, swerving repeatedly to throw the sergeant from the hood, Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Hanichak said.

Hudson then slammed on the brakes, throwing the sergeant from the hood and into a parked car in the 1700 block of East Hayes, Hanichak said. The sergeant was treated for contusions to his legs.

Officers recorded the license plate of the Lexis that Hudson was allegedly driving. Hudson had stolen the car from someone he knew earlier, Hanichak said.

Hudson was arrested Tuesday on the Far South Side and eventually admitted to police in a video-recorded interview that he was driving the Lexis, Hanichak said. Cellphone records place Hudson at the area of the crash and the home from where the car was stolen, he said.

Hudson claimed he did not strike the sergeant, but that the sergeant had climbed on the hood of the car before he sped off, Hudson’s attorney said.

Judge Barbara Dawkins ordered him held on $300,000 cash bail on charges of attempted murder of an officer, possession of a stolen vehicle and aggravated battery to an officer.