3 police officers injured in chase of stolen cab through Gold Coast

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Updated: January 20, 2012 8:15AM

The keys in the ignition, a thief made off with an empty cab Sunday morning parked outside a Gold Coast coffee shop. But thanks to equally convenient GPS technology he didn’t get too far.

Just after 7:30 a.m., the cab’s driver flagged down an officer at Division and Dearborn to report his taxi had been stolen; there is a Starbucks on the corner.

The cabdriver called his taxi company and obtained “real time” movement of the vehicle through its GPS system and passed it along to Chicago police who put that information along with a vehicle description over the police radio, according to Officer John Mirabelli.

Minutes later an officer spotted the cab — still in the Gold Coast — turned on his emergency lights and tried to pull the cab, to no avail, as the driver sped past at least two stop signs. The thief bailed out of the cab at Goethe and Stone, running away and leaving the cab in gear, causing it to roll in to a police squad car. Officers chased the suspect, catching up to and arresting him about 8 a.m. in the1200 block of North Astor.

Cortez Carter, 30, of the 8500 block of South Racine, was charged with a felony count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a misdemeanor count of damage to public property along with a series of traffic citations: Driving without a license, twice blowing stop signs, negligent driving, reckless driving and failure to render aid in an accident involving an injury.

Carter is being held at the Cook County jail and will appear for a bond hearing on Monday. Police records show he’s a convicted felon and currently on probation for attempted robbery and attempted possession of a motor vehicle.

In all, three officers suffered minor injuries, including two who were in the squad car that was hit by the cab and another who chased the suspect, police said.