Crime Down, But...

....assaults and batteries to police up? It sure seems that way:
  • A suspected carjacker was in police custody this morning after leading Chicago and Illinois State police on an 11-mile chase, all while firing shots at pursuing officers, authorities said.

    No officers were wounded in the meandering pursuit that began on the city's Far South Side and ended in the lakefront Bronzeville neighborhood.

    Police said the van first fled from officers in the 10000 block of South Normal Avenue at about 2 a.m., after Morgan Park District officers suspected that it was taken in an earlier carjacking.

    From there, the van fled north on to Interstate 57 on to the Dan Ryan Expressway, spurring state police to join in the pursuit, police said. The van left the expressway on 76th Street, trying to evade authorities by racing through several South Side neighborhoods, police said.

Nicely done. Rumors are abounding that the suspect, however, is out on bail or was just released from a previous charge of ... wait for it ... shooting at the police! Incredible, but true!

OK, not that incredible when you think about it.