Man in Motorcycle Crash in Coma After Speeding From Police

—By Cops Field Editor Nick Swedberg

A Matteson man remains in a medically induced coma after crashing his motorcycle in Tinley Park last week. 

Officials for Tinley Park and Orland Park police departments confirmed that the 31-year-old biker fled from an Orland Park officer who had tried to stop him for speeding early Thursday morning. The man crashed into a parked car less than 10 minutes later, near the intersection of 167th Street and 84th Avenue in Tinley Park, police said.

It is department policy not to pursue motorcycle who flee traffic stops, said Orland Park Cmdr. John Keating. The officer stopped pursuit when the motorcycle accelerated and sped away.

"We don't pursue motorcycles. He (the officer) was clearly within policy," Keating said.

The Matteson man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition. At some point, doctors put him into a medically induced coma.

Police are still investigating the crash. Investigators do not yet know if drugs or alcohol were involved. The man's name also isn't being released.

The Orland Park officer was parked at about 12:36 a.m. in the 7400 block of 159th Street when he clocked the motorcycle traveling 51 mph in a 35 mph zone, police said. The cop pursued and, upon activating his emergency lights, watched as the motorcycle leave at a high rate of speed. A description of the motorcycle and the driver were called in to police dispatch.

Orland Park dispatch then heard a Tinley Park call seven minutes later about a motorcycle crash, police said. The Orland Park officer who attempted the traffic stop drove to the scene in Tinley Park and identified the driver as the one who was spotted speeding.