Attempt at a good deed leads to a carjacking near Spring Valley

A man trying to help out a fellow motorist in Bureau County turned into a carjacking.

Back on Friday night, state troopers in La Salle got called about a crash on eastbound Interstate 80 just past the Spring Valley exit. Before police arrived, a Good Samaritan stopped to help the driver, 26-year-old Rashad Atwater of Chicago. When Atwater asked the other driver to check out his passenger, he allegedly assaulted the Good Samaritan and took his pickup.

About an hour and a half later, a trooper near Chicago noticed Atwater allegedly driving the stolen truck on Interstate 55. Atwater crashed since he was driving on the rim of the front driver side wheel. He then is accused of fleeing on foot before being caught with a handgun inside a bag.

Atwater was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, armed habitual criminal, possession of a stolen vehicle, and driving on a suspended license. He was taken to the Cook County Jail.

Troopers say the vehicle Atwater initially crashed near Spring Valley was stolen earlier in the evening while he was in Iowa.