Loyola police chase after local suspect

Loyola+sign+sits+in+the+grass+in+front+of+Marquette+Hall

A Loyola sign sits bathed in sunlight outside Marquette Hall.

Gabriella Killett

Police chased after a man who they suspected committed a robbery while wielding a knife Monday after receiving a radio notice he was heading their way, according to LUPD.

The man was eventually arrested and turned over to NOPD, only after police followed him for blocks and at some point had to draw a gun and then a taser.

LUPD Chief Todd Warren spotted a man with the given radio description after about a 30 minute search when the suspect entered Loyola’s horseshoe on a bicycle.

Warren followed him and called for backup. While Warren attempted to place him under arrest, the suspect resisted arrest, got on his bike and fled the scene.

Loyola parent Lasoyna Rivers had just pulled up to pick up her son Ja’Colbi from the Loyola horseshoe Monday when she heard a police officer yelling at a man running from him.

Rivers said the officer, presumably Warren, had his gun drawn and was telling the possible suspect to get down.

The scene led to a continued chase down St. Charles Ave. At one point, LUPD officer Cpl. Heather Cruse deployed her taser and knocked the man off of the bicycle.

After a brief struggle, Warren, who chased the man to the corner of Eleonor and Garfield streets, wrestled the man to the ground. Fellow officers arrested him.

Rivers warned students to “please please please be careful around campus,” adding “God forbid he could have had a gun.”

Brendan Heffernan contributed to this report.