On Sat., Dec. 14, 2024, Naperville Police pursued and arrested three suspects for alleged vehicular carjacking from another suburb. (PN file photos are used to help flag stories related to Naperville Police and Fire Department responses to investigations and emergency calls, always reminding readers that keeping the community safe is everyone’s responsibility. Thanks always for calling 911 whenever necessary to report what seems suspicious or unsafe. If you see something, say something. Be alert by day and by night. Be a Naperville Crime Stopper. Stay safe.)
NPD Public Information Office Report
At approximately 7:11PM on Sat., Dec. 14, 2024, officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of S. Washington Street (south of E. Bailey Road) in an attempt to locate a black GMC Acadia that was allegedly taken an hour earlier in a vehicular carjacking from another suburb.
Officers arrived on scene and located the Acadia running, and backed into a parking space in an apartment complex. Officers successfully used their squad cars to pin the Acadia and prevent it from leaving the lot. Three suspects exited the Acadia and fled on foot. Two of the suspects were quickly apprehended after a short foot pursuit.
Officers observed the third suspect fleeing while allegedly armed with a firearm in his hand. That suspect scaled several fences before officers lost sight of him.
Officers established a perimeter, and with the help of a K9, later located the third suspect, identified as Ezequiel Lopez-Bey, a 22-year-old male of Palatine, hiding in a shed in a resident’s backyard. A firearm was recovered from a nearby backyard where Lopez-Bey was allegedly seen scaling a fence.
Ezequiel Lopez-Bey was charged with Resisting a Peace Officer, a Class A Misdemeanor, Receive, Possess or Sell a Stolen Motor Vehicle or Essential Part, a Class 2 Felony, Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon, a Class 4 Felony, and Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding, a Class 4 Felony.
The other adult suspect was identified as Andrew B. De Lance, a 19-year-old male of Arlington Heights. He was charged with Receive, Possess or Sell a Stolen Motor Vehicle or Essential Part, a Class 2 Felony, and Resisting a Peace Officer, a Class A Misdemeanor.
Lopez-Bey and De Lance were both processed at the Naperville Detention Center and later transported to the DuPage County Jail to await first appearance court.
Booking photographs of Lopez-Bey and De Lance, courtesy NPD
The third suspect was identified as a juvenile and was released pending a direct file with the court system.
The Naperville Police Department would like to thank the Aurora Police Department, the Will County Sheriff’s Office and the Shorewood Police Department for their assistance in the apprehension of these suspects.
The Naperville Police wish to remind the public and the news media that a charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
