Markeece Muhammad
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. - One of two Illinois men accused of leading Pleasant Prairie police on a chase in a stolen vehicle and then ramming one of the Pleasant Prairie squads has pleaded guilty to two of five charges against him.
Markeece Muhammad pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Nov. 27 to first-degree recklessly endangering safety and drive or operate vehicle without consent. Three other charges were dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Muhammad is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2025.
Case details
According to the criminal complaint, on Saturday, Feb. 24 at approximately 9:47 p.m. an officer received a notification from Flock camera systems alerts that a possible stolen vehicle was traveling north on Lewis, which turns onto 39th Avenue in Wisconsin, near Highway 173 in Zion, Illinois. Flock cameras showed the vehicle to possibly have displayed an Illinois registration of BH70753.
The officer responded to the area of 39th Avenue and 104th Street in the Village of Pleasant Prairie when he observed a blue Chevrolet Traverse with a partial Illinois registration of BH70 pass him traveling northbound. The officer notified dispatch and caught up with the vehicle, and confirmed the registration was Illinois registration BH70753.
Pleasant Prairie squad intentionally rammed by fleeing felon in stolen car, officials say
The officer observed the vehicle stop to yield to traffic at the roundabout on 39th Avenue and then observed another officer's squad enter the roundabout. The officer attempted a boxing-in maneuver while a sergeant positioned himself behind the stolen vehicle.
According to the complaint, the stolen vehicle began reversing towards and then rammed into the front of an officer's squad car before fleeing northbound on 39th Avenue. The squad car was disabled due to the collision. The other officer continued pursuing the stolen vehicle.
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Pleasant Prairie police chase, squad rammed
Two Illinois men are charged with leading Pleasant Prairie police on a chase in a stolen vehicle – and then ramming one of the Pleasant Prairie squads.
The stolen vehicle continued northbound, traveling between 70–90 mph through the intersections of 39th Avenue and 89th Street, 39th Avenue and 85th Street, 39th Avenue and 80th Street, and 39th Avenue and 75th Street, traveling at times in the southbound lanes of traffic. The officer lost sight of the vehicle near 68th Street and terminated the pursuit at that time.
A witness called and advised the vehicle partially pulled into a driveway near 39th Avenue and 69th Street and two men ran. When police arrived at the scene, they located a silver firearm with a black grip, later determined to be a Lorcin .380 special, lying on the sidewalk near the stolen vehicle with a magazine inserted into the firearm. A black ski mask was directly next to the firearm.
Pleasant Prairie police recovered loaded gun after police chase
Officers deployed a drone and a K-9 to assist in locating the men. Shawn Sawko Jr. and Markeece Muhammad were located and taken into custody.
With Muhammad, police found an Illinois driver’s license, two cash app Visa debt cards, an American Express card and to additional bank cards that didn't belong to him.
Dashcam footage was able to identify Muhammad as the operator of the vehicle and Sawko was the front seat passenger.