When escaped convict, Robert Maday, got away from two guards, we helicopter folks immediately got a phone call for news footage yesterday. We spent several hours hovering over Arlington Heights with no sign of the fugitive.
Today we received word, in the middle of our morning show, that he had been spotted hijacking a car in Hoffman Estates. We again did quite a bit of hovering over THIS scene.
As exciting as chases can seem, there are a lot of times when you are forced to wait for more information and direction to come your way. This is the bulk of my job with the news helicopter, and can oftentimes challenge one's patience. THANKFULLY, the waiting came to an end when we heard of a bank robbery in Bloomingdale, less than a mile from my home. We spent much time hovering over this area searching along with the FBI, U.S. Marshall, and several teamed up police forces from surrounding areas. We were listening to as many scanner frequencies as possible, and roaming around based on tips we had heard over the air.
We got a tip that he had been in St. Charles, and headed out that direction. No Mayday. Shortly thereafter, the stations agreed that this could go on for hours with no sight of the fugitive. They sent us on our way. We had been flying about 6 hours at that point. Less than a half an hour on the ground later, we were dispatched back up to the air in order to get footage of the freshly captured idiot. He caused a car crash in West Chicago at the intersection of James and Rt. 59.
Almost 12 hours of total flight time later, as well as several vocal cameo appearances on NBC, Fox, and several online live feeds by yours truly, we were all relieved for many reasons (especially being on the ground again for at least a while).
Here's the story on James Mayday, along with a copy of his affidavit (available on Fox Chicago's website). Feel free to watch the video footage, which I shot, on either
NBC 5 Chicago or
Fox Chicago. OH! And if you're wondering about the camera shaking - the gyroscopes in my camera have been faulty for some time now. It truly wasn't a reflection on my competence as a camera operator, I assure you.
