Cops arrested a man after he allegedly stole a Chicago Fire Department battalion chief’s fully-marked SUV from a firehouse near the Magnificent Mile and went on a joyride to Edgewater.
Aaron Johnson, 49, was arrested on April 1 but went home from the police station that evening with instructions to appear in court a week later. He was recently re-arrested on an active warrant issued after he failed to show up for that court date.
The incident began when the chief of Battalion 1 parked the unmistakable Chicago Fire Department SUV in front of Station 98 at 202 East Chicago Avenue around 8:20 a.m. Minutes later, the vehicle was gone, prompting a swift response from police—and the battalion chief—after the SUV’s GPS began pinging in near Glenwood and Farwell avenues on the North Side, according to a CPD report.
The battalion chief personally located the SUV parked in the 1400 block of West Lunt, with Johnson behind the wheel, the report stated. Police said Johnson turned off the vehicle and surrendered the keys when the chief requested them. Officers arrived shortly after and confronted Johnson, who allegedly told them he was “having fun.”…