Oct. 28, 2025 4:30p
(WGTD)---Charges have been filed against the driver of a vehicle who'd been running from police when he rear-ended a Jeep carrying five high school girls on their way to homecoming festivities.
39-year-old Gil Melendez, who was seriously injured, has yet to appear in court.
The criminal complaint details a lengthy, high-speed chase Oct. 11th through Winthrop Harbor, Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha that put several drivers at risk.
The fleeing driver kept going north on Sheridan into the city even after officers deployed spike strips that deflated the vehicle's tires. One tire came apart altogether.
The chase ended when Melendez struck utility poles and two vehicles, including the one carrying the students. According to the complaint, the girls, dressed in formalwear, suffered head and neck pain days after the crash. They described how terrifying it all was.
Police had been seeking Melendez ever since he allegedly stole two cartons of cigarettes from a convenience store a couple of days earlier.
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