Woman killed after van tries to hit police, strikes four cars

A woman was reportedly killed Tuesday morning on the South Side when a minivan driven by a drug suspect rammed her car after attempting to run over police officers. The woman's car was one of two civilian vehicles the van crashed into after striking two undercover police cars.

Following a brief pursuit after the second crash, the occupants of the minivan were caught and taken into custody. The series of events began just before 7 a.m. at 63rd Street and King Drive, police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said.

Officers from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas unit, which includes Chicago Police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents, were conducting a traffic stop on a minivan that contained two targets of a drug investigation, Perez said.

The officers got out of their undercover vehicles and announced their office to the minivan's occupants, but the driver put the minivan put it into reverse and attempted to run over the officers.

One of the officers, in fear for his life, fired a single shot at the minivan, but the bullet did not strike anyone, Perez said.

After ramming the officers' vehicles, the minivan headed east on 63rd Street and struck a car at 63rd and St. Lawrence, Perez said. That crash happened about 7:09 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.

The car struck by the minivan was driven by a 42-year-old woman, Perez said. Perez said she was pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County about 7:50 a.m. An earlier report from Fire Media Affairs indicated the woman had been taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said that as of about 11:20 a.m., the office had not been formally notified of the fatality.

After the minivan struck the woman's car, it kept going and struck another vehicle, which was driven by a man who refused medical attention.

The minivan then stopped and two occupants got out and tried to flee on foot, Perez said. They were immediately caught and taken into custody.

No police officers were injured. The suspects were claiming injuries and were taken as a precaution to Saint Bernard Hospital, Perez said.

The police Major Accident Investigation Unit was investigating.