Elgin man fled traffic stop before crashing into 3 cars in Crystal Lake, officials say

About three minutes before a four-vehicle crash Tuesday night in Crystal Lake, an Elgin man had fled police trying to make a traffic stop in Cary, authorities said.

Deondrae L. Clements, 35, initially was charged by Crystal Lake police with failing to report a crash involving injury, a Class 2 felony, as well as aggravated reckless driving causing great bodily harm and driving with a revoked license, according to a criminal complaint signed by Crystal Lake police in McHenry County court.

Clements made a first appearance before a judge Wednesday and was ordered to be detained in the county jail pretrial. New charges have been added, for which he made another court appearance Thursday and was again detained.

The new criminal complaint filed by Cary police charges Clements with aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer exceeding 21 mph over the speed limit, a Class 4 felony, as well as a misdemeanor charge of driving with a revoked driver’s license and petty traffic offenses.

Authorities said that at 9:11 p.m., a Cary officer activated his overhead lights in attempting to make a traffic stop because Clements’ black Mazda CX-5 SUV had no tail lights. The officer followed Clements into a Jewel-Osco parking lot on Route 14. Clements appeared to be stopping when he turned and looked at the officer, but “then took off,” according to the criminal complaint.

He then led the officer on a high-speed chase traveling west on Three Oaks Road at more than 40 mph above the posted 35 mph speed limit, according to the complaint. Clements also drove “in the center turn lane of Three Oaks Road, passing several other vehicles while fleeing from a traffic stop,” according to the complaint.

The officer retreated from the chase due to the high rate of speed, but Clements continued driving, according to a news release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.

About 9:14 p.m., Clements disregarded a red light at Route 31 while heading west on Three Oaks Road and Route 31, crashing into two sedans traveling south on Route 31 and an SUV traveling east on Three Oaks Road that he hit head-on, police and the state’s attorney said.

Clements allegedly ditched his vehicle and ran away on foot, then entered another vehicle that drove him away from the area, leaving the damage he caused and “those injured behind,” Judge Cynthia Lamb said Thursday.

In the order detaining Clements, Lamb wrote that Clements told the driver of the car that drove him away “to not call police or look at him.”

At the time of these alleged offenses, Clements was wearing a GPS monitor as a condition of pretrial release in a Kane County case in which he is charged with aggravated battery, said Nicholas Jenz, a public information officer for the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.

People in the two sedans traveling on Route 31 suffered minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals. The driver of the SUV suffered serious injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken by ambulance then flown to a hospital, authorities said.

Lamb said Clements caused one person “permanent disability, a disfigurement” in that they lost four fingers on their left hand.

Less than two hours after the crashes, about 11 p.m. Tuesday, East Dundee police apprehended Clements in the 400 block of Main Street, East Dundee Chief of Police Joshua Fourdyce said.

Lamb said that when Clements was arrested in East Dundee, he was in the process of buying illicit drugs, and he lied to officers and said he had been robbed and kidnapped.

“He additionally lied to law enforcement after the fact in an attempt to escape accountability,” Lamb said.

In detaining Clements on the standard of dangerousness, Lamb cited his “significant and violent criminal history” dating back to 2006, including charges of aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest and domestic battery.

“The court finds that this defendant presents a real and present threat to the safety of any person or persons in the community,” Lamb said. “[Clements] was already under conditions of release in another matter, including GPS, and there are no further conditions which this court could come up with.”

An earlier headline on this story mistakenly said Clements was accused of buying illicit drugs before fleeing the Cary officer. Rather, the judge said he was attempting to buy drugs when apprehended in East Dundee.