OAK LAWN, IL -- Before an admitted Insane Deuce gang member led police on a dangerous 90-mph chase last weekend from Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood to northwest suburban Schaumburg, the convicted felon was out on bail for driving a stolen minivan and possessing an illegal gun in Oak Lawn, reports said.
Jason Baker, 21, of Chicago, first aroused suspicions after plainclothes police spotted Baker late in the afternoon on March 29 chatting on a cell phone while waiting for the light to turn at 91st Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn,
reports said. The officers also noticed a cracked windshield in the Chrysler minivan that Baker was driving. After running the plate, police learned the car had been reported stolen in Chicago just days earlier.
While the light was still red, officers positioned themselves in front of the minivan and activated their emergency lights. Police said Baker put the car in reverse and drove ten feet backwards. Baker was ordered at gunpoint to put his hands up toward the roof and exit the minivan. Baker allegedly yelled that his seat belt was still on, so he couldn't get out of the vehicle.
As one officer pinned Baker's hands against the door frame, another entered through the front seat passenger door to release Baker's seat belt, according to the police report. When Baker was placed face down on the ground, officers claimed they heard a scraping sound near Baker's midsection. He was rolled onto his side where officers saw a 9 mm Glock protruding from his waistband, police said.
"Sir, be careful. There's one in there," Baker reportedly said as officers removed the gun. 
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Officers found one round in the chamber with 12 more rounds in the magazine, reports said. According to police, while searching the minivan officers found an unlabeled pill bottle containing an unknown substance, as well as a spent shell casing which matched the ammunition in the Glock.
Baker allegedly told police that he didn't know what was in the bottle "because it's not my car." When officers asked who the car belonged to, Baker is said to have replied: "Beats the hell out of me."
He was brought to the Oak Lawn police station. During their interview, police said Baker told them he had borrowed the minivan from a friend the day before, which belonged to his friend's mother. When pressed for the friend's address and phone number, Baker allegedly claimed he didn't know, reports said. 
Asked why he was packing heat, Baker allegedly claimed to be an Insane Deuce gang member. Baker also stated that his girlfriend has a lot of family members who belong to the Latin Counts gang, police said. The reason why he didn't have a FOID card or conceal-carry license was because "I'd rather go to jail than die," after watching his younger brother get shot and killed in front of him in 2012. The report also stated that Baker wasn't worried about the stolen minivan "because it's a misdemeanor."
Oak Lawn police were able to contact the Chicago woman who had reported the minivan stolen. She said that her car was warming up in her driveway on March 19 when she saw a while male climbing into it and driving away. The Cook County State's Attorney's office approved felony charges for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a gun by a felon. Baker was also charged with a misdemeanor for possession of ammunition without a FOID card, and traffic citations for operating a cell phone while driving, open alcohol, and driving with a defective windshield. He appeared in court on March 30 at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building for a bond hearing. Bail was set at $20,000.
While out on bail, a vehicle Baker was said to be driving matched the description of one that was possibly involved in a shooting on April 14 in Bridgeport. Two men said they were walking out of a residence in the 3200 block of South Morgan Avenue around 10:45 p.m., when they were fired upon by the occupants of a silver car. Chicago police spotted the car and pursued it to I-94, until it drove up an embankment and entered the expressway where Illinois State troopers picked up the chase. The chase lasted an hour, at some points reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour, police said. The car crashed in Schaumburg. There were no injuries. 
Baker was charged with one felony count of aggravated fleeing and eluding, as well as misdemeanor counts for reckless driving, driving an uninsured vehicle, and not having a driver's license. Two of his 18-year-old passengers were each charged with possession of cannabis; a third was charged with possession of a police scanner.
Spent shell casings were found on the floorboards of the car, Chicago police said. Gun charges were not filed "due to insufficient evidence." Bail was set at $10,000; however, because Baker had violated bail on the Oak Lawn charges, he is being held in Cook County Jail without bond. 
Oak Lawn police said that Baker had been convicted of three felonies in Indiana, including one for pointing a gun at another person. Baker has court appearances on April 22 and April 26.
"This just illustrates the failure of the bond system," said Div. Chief Ross Finnelly, of the Oak Lawn Police Department. "Here we have a suspect arrested for possession of a stolen car and illegal gun, who bonds out of jail and becomes a suspect in a shooting in the city, and then leads police in a high speed chase."