Elmhurst man accused of leading police on chase, wounding officer denied release ahead of trial

ELMHURST, sick. – Some Elmhurst A man accused of leaving the scene of an accident and leading police on a chase has been denied pre-trial release.

On Friday morning, 21-year-old Gratas Zvirblis appeared in court on numerous charges stemming from the October 24 incident, which include:

• One count of aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer, a Class 4 felony.
• One count of resisting a police officer causing injury is a Class 4 felony.
• Several dozen traffic offenses and infractions, including: driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in damage to the supervised vehicle.

Lombard police say they were called to a crash on I-88 involving a gray BMW driven by Zvirblis, who fled the scene and was headed east on Butterfield Road.

The officers located a BMW that was only running on one of its rims.

Zvirblis allegedly failed to stop after police activated his emergency lights and sirens, continuing on to Spring Road, where he rear-ended another vehicle. He then fled on foot, but exited the vehicle at 900 Spring Road in Elmhurst and ran west.

Prosecutors say the officer pursuing Zvirblis tried to stop him as he tried to jump a fence. The officer grabbed Zvirblis and both men fell to the ground.

Zvirblis allegedly resisted the officer’s attempts to handcuff him during the struggle, resulting in the officer suffering an injury to his left elbow.

When he was arrested, Zvirblis reportedly smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and was slurring his words.

Zvirblis also had an outstanding arrest warrant for aggravated assault and disorderly conduct related to a previous road rage incident, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 18 for arraignment.