Woman Hides While Man Flees on Foot from Illegally Driven Car: Police

Officers found a woman hiding in the back of a car they approached for a license plate violation Saturday afternoon in the 4000 block of Harvey Avenue, Western Springs police said.

Turns out, neither Brittany Ramkelawan, 22, nor the car’s driver, Danny Washington, 24, were supposed to be in that car, police said.

A patrol officer noticed the car didn’t have a front license plate and that the rear plate was missing its registration sticker a few minutes earlier when the car was driving on Ogden near Gilbert, Deputy Chief Brian Budds said.

While the officer turned his car around, Washington pulled the car onto Harvey and into a driveway in the 4000 block. Washington, of the 1400 block of NW 6th Street in Ft. Lauderdale, turned the ignition off, and both he and Ramkelawan, of the 1700 block of NW 7th Street in Ft. Lauderdale, ducked down, Budds said.

Washington tried to run away as the officer approached the car, Budds said, but he didn’t make it very far.

“The offender actually tripped over his own feet and then surrendered,” he said.

A backup officer arrived and saw Ramkelawan crouching down on the back seat, he said.

The car was rented out of Florida in someone else’s name and had a stolen Illinois license plate taped over its Florida license plate, Budds said.

Washington and Ramkelawan were each charged with one count of criminal trespass to a vehicle and one count of obstructing a police officer. Washington was also charged with possession of stolen property, driving with a revoked license, driving with revoked registration and unlawful display of registration.

They posted bond and were released from the Western Springs Police Department.

Officers returned the Illinois plate to its owner and the car to the rental company, he said.

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