On 05-08-22 at 3:50 a.m., officers monitored a gathering of 250 to 300 people in the parking lot of a business in the 300 block of East Walnut Street. A fight broke out amongst several females in the center of the crowd. Soon after the fight broke out, the driver of a white SUV attempted to flee and crashed into other vehicles. The driver struck one person in the process. A large part of the crowd of people surrounded the car, blocking the driver’s escape. The crowd began hitting the car with items as the driver attempted to drive away. Several individuals in the crowd opened the driver’s door and attempted to pull the female driver out of the car. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd for their safety and the safety of the occupant(s) of the vehicle. The crowd moved away from the vehicle and the driver fled the scene heading east on East Walnut Street at a high rate of speed. Officers pursued the vehicle and found it crashed on Illinois Route 13 near Pin Oak Drive.
The suspect fled from the vehicle on foot and was not located. The driver is described as a black female in her early twenties. The individual struck by the car appeared to have a minor injury, but he refused to cooperate with officers and declined medical treatment. There were no other injuries reported as a result of the incident. There was property damage to vehicles. The investigation into the incident continues.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the City of Carbondale Police Department at (618) 549-2121. You may also call the Carbondale/SIU Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (618) 549-COPS (2677) or the Murphysboro/Jackson County anonymous tip line at (618) 687-COPS (2677). Anonymous tips may also be made by selecting the “Crime Stoppers” tab located on the main page of this website. Please help yourself, along with your county, its communities and the university campus by using these numbers if you witness, or have any information pertaining to, a crime. Cash rewards for information which leads to an arrest are also made anonymously. Remember, crime doesn’t pay, but Crime Stoppers does!