Frankie Hook

Multiple police agencies were involved in the pursuit and eventual apprehension Saturday night in Columbia of a man wanted for an incident in St. Clair County. A Cahokia man is now charged with multiple felonies.

The St. Clair Sheriff’s Department said a deputy observed a blue 2002 Honda Accord driving all over the roadway, on the shoulder and in the wrong lane of travel on Route 163 near Millstadt and attempted to make a traffic stop.

The vehicle accelerated and refused to stop, continuing onto Saeger Road, Triple Lakes Road, Wagner Road and Imbs Station Road in rural St. Clair County.

“The vehicle disobeyed all stop signs at intersections and continued driving completely into the wrong lane of travel,” St. Clair Sheriff’s Department Capt. Bruce Fleshren said.

The vehicle turned onto Mullins Road and quickly turned off the roadway into a field behind a tree line for a short time before turning back onto Mullins Road, and traveled through a field toward the levee. The vehicle was able to get through the mud and climb the levee and continue to flee.

The vehicle drove down the levee to Route 3 in Cahokia, where Cahokia and Dupo officers began to assist as the car continued fleeing on Route 3 and Interstate 255 southbound, police said.  Columbia police and Illinois State Police also assisted in the incident.

The car crossed through the center median and began to travel southbound in the northbound lanes of I-255.

“The car was traveling on the shoulder of the interstate while traveling in the wrong direction,” Fleshren said. “No police vehicles were driving in the wrong direction.”

The driver eventually lost control of his car and went into a ditch at the Route 3 and I-255 split in Columbia and was taken into custody by Cahokia officers.

Fortunately, there were no injuries or other accidents as a result of the incident.

On Monday, the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Frankie W. Hook, 37, of Cahokia, with two counts of aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude police, one count of driving while license revoked, and one count of resisting arrest.

Bond was set at $75,000 and Hook remains in the St. Clair County Jail.

Hook has a history of traffic charges and prior arrests for fleeing and eluding. He was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for fleeing and eluding in October 2016.