A 20-year-old Rockford man is facing a stack of charges after deputies say he squealed his tires, spun a donut in the middle of the road, and then led police on a chase that topped 100 mph through Winnebago County early Wednesday morning. When deputies finally caught up to Raul Alfaro Jr., they reportedly found him standing outside his stopped car, drinking a Monaco like nothing had happened.
According to MyStateline, Winnebago County Sheriff's deputies first encountered Alfaro's black Chrysler 300 heading south on Logistics Parkway around 12:37 a.m. on November 11. Deputies noticed the car had a loud exhaust and no rear license plate light, prompting them to attempt a stop. Alfaro reportedly squealed his tires, did a donut, and fired the Chrysler off in the opposite direction to evade police.
Chase Hits Triple Digits, Blows Through Red Light
Deputies began pursuing the Chrysler eastbound on Samuelson Road, and the chase quickly escalated. Alfaro reached speeds over 100 mph, launching the car into the air and through a red light at Samuelson Road and 11th Street, the report notes. Out of caution, pursuing deputies terminated the pursuit near Samuelson and 35th Street after losing sight of the vehicle.
The chase wasn't over, though. Cherry Valley officers later spotted the car heading north onto Mulford from Blackhawk Road, while Winnebago County Sheriff's deputies waited nearby at the Phillips 66 gas station at 4415 Sandy Hollow Road. A deputy threw stop sticks into the Chrysler's path in an attempt to deflate its tires, but Alfaro swerved to avoid them, then turned off his headlights and sped north on Lonergan Drive.
Drinking Roadside When Deputies Caught Up
Deputies eventually found the car stopped in the roadway, with Alfaro and another man standing outside it drinking Monacos. Four occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody in total. One man in the group told police they had been drinking at a park earlier that night and had been questioned by a Rockford police officer before the chase began, and said the group had been headed to a private residence.
That same man told deputies Alfaro fled the traffic stop because “he wanted to have fun” and he was drunk, per the account relayed in the police report. Alfaro gave a different explanation, telling deputies he did not know a squad car was behind him when he performed the donut at Logistics Parkway and Milford Avenue.
Charges and Booking
Alfaro failed sobriety tests, according to the police report, and was taken to the Winnebago County Justice Center. He was booked into the jail at 4:20 a.m. Wednesday. Raul Alfaro Jr. has since been charged with aggravated fleeing, driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, and multiple other offenses, the outlet's report states.
The chase adds to a string of recent pursuits reported in Winnebago County. A separate report from Rockford News First described deputies pursuing a vehicle in Machesney Park on November 5 after its driver allegedly failed to stop for a traffic stop, with the vehicle believed to be connected to multiple recent hit-and-runs. That pursuit ended in a crash in which two Winnebago County Sheriff's squad cars were struck; no injuries were reported, though the female driver was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
