Officers Find Two People Asleep in a Stolen Car, Then the Parking Lot Erupts

A Stolen Hyundai Is Spotted Outside Starbucks

At about 10 a.m. on January 27, 2024, Waukegan police were called to the Starbucks at 3300 Grand Avenue after a family member of a stolen car’s owner reported seeing the vehicle in the parking lot. Prosecutors later said the white Hyundai Elantra had been stolen from Gurnee the previous month and was displaying stolen license plates. The supplied body-camera footage matches the reported incident in unusually specific ways. Its AXON overlay shows January 27, 2024 at roughly 10:06 a.m. The officers are in a commercial parking lot, the target vehicle is a white sedan, and marked Waukegan police vehicles appear as the encounter explodes into motion. Those details align with contemporaneous reporting and later court coverage. Police said the vehicle was occupied by two people who were sleeping when officers approached. The driver was later identified as April M. Reins, then 27, of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. Reporting and court accounts consistently describe the second occupant as a male passenger, but the sources reviewed for this article do not reliably identify him by name. That opening is what makes the footage so jarring. The officers are not arriving in the middle of a moving pursuit. They approach a stationary stolen vehicle containing occupants who appear to be asleep. Within moments, the parking lot becomes dangerous for officers, bystanders and other drivers.

The Quiet Approach Collapses in Seconds

According to Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain, an officer opened the vehicle after finding the occupants asleep. Reins then allegedly attempted to drive away. The white Hyundai struck several vehicles, including two police squad cars. The body-camera sequence captures how little room officers have to react in a crowded parking lot. Parked vehicles create narrow lanes, pedestrians may be nearby, and officers approaching a suspected stolen car are often positioned only feet from its wheels and doors. This is also why the original upload title’s phrase “almost kill cops” needs more precise language. The documented facts are serious enough without exaggeration. Prosecutors said officers had to jump out of the way, and one sergeant was struck, trapped and dragged by an open passenger door. The officer suffered a broken rib and abrasions to his arm, hip and shoulders. Describing those verified injuries is more accurate than speculating about intent to kill. The later charges included aggravated battery and aggravated assault allegations involving police officers, but the available reporting does not establish an attempted-murder charge arising from the parking-lot incident.

The Passenger Runs as the Hyundai Keeps Moving

As the vehicle tries to escape, the male passenger exits and runs. Officers give chase while other officers remain around the Hyundai. That split-second division of attention creates a particularly difficult tactical problem: one suspect is moving on foot while another remains behind the controls of a vehicle capable of causing serious injury. Prosecutors said that as the passenger fled, Reins continued trying to drive away with the passenger door open. The open door struck a police sergeant, trapping and dragging him. Another officer pulled the sergeant away to prevent him from being run over. The body-camera footage shows the chaos from officers’ perspective: rapid movement between parked cars, shouted commands and the white Hyundai maneuvering in a confined area. The sequence is much more informative than a single still image because it demonstrates how quickly the scene changes. Eventually both occupants were taken into custody. Police said they appeared to be overdosing after having recently injected drugs, prompting the Waukegan Fire Department to send multiple ambulances. Reins and the male passenger were transported to a hospital for treatment, while the injured officer was also taken for medical care.

Drug Use Becomes Part of the Investigation

At a later court hearing, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Shepherd said Reins told paramedics she had taken cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Police initially described both occupants as needing treatment for a possible overdose. That medical response is an important part of the incident. Arrest and emergency care can happen at the same time. A person suspected of committing serious offenses may still need immediate treatment, and officers must shift from controlling a dangerous scene to ensuring that detainees receive medical attention. The drug allegations also became relevant to the criminal case. Reins faced two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and a count of driving under the influence of a drug, alongside numerous charges connected to the vehicle, injured officer and attempted escape from the parking lot. It is important not to treat body-camera appearance alone as proof of a particular substance. The information about cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine comes from the prosecutor’s account of what Reins told paramedics, not from visual identification by the video.

More Than a Dozen Charges Follow

After the incident, prosecutors filed a long list of charges against Reins. Contemporary reporting listed aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a peace officer, aggravated battery of a peace officer, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, three counts of aggravated assault of a peace officer, criminal damage to property, two counts of aggravated DUI, DUI drugs, improper use of registration or title, reckless driving, operating an uninsured vehicle and driving without a license. A judge later denied Reins pretrial release. Court reporting quoted the judge describing the conduct as posing a danger, while prosecutors emphasized the injuries to the sergeant and the risk to other officers in the parking lot. The case did not end there. While in custody during the following weeks, Reins accumulated additional allegations related to escape attempts, including an incident in which authorities said she climbed into a ceiling while at a sheriff’s facility. Those later events are separate from what the January 27 body camera shows, but they help explain the eventual court outcome. They should not be retroactively inserted into the parking-lot footage as though officers knew they would occur.

The Case Eventually Ends With a Prison Sentence

Unlike many newly released body-camera cases, this incident now has a verified later court outcome. In March 2025, Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported that Reins had been sentenced to seven years in prison after the case stemming from the Waukegan incident. That later development allows the story to be told with more certainty than was possible immediately after the arrest. At the time of the original incident, Reins was only accused and remained entitled to the normal protections of the criminal process. By 2025, the case had advanced to a sentence. The footage remains striking because of the contrast between the beginning and the middle of the encounter. Officers approach a parked Hyundai and find two occupants asleep. There is no active chase at that moment. Then the driver wakes, the car moves, the passenger runs, police vehicles are struck and an officer is injured. The verified record also corrects the most sensational interpretation of the original upload title. The evidence supports a dangerous attempt to flee that injured a police sergeant and forced other officers to move out of the vehicle’s path. It does not require the unsupported claim that the occupants deliberately tried to kill police. For viewers, the body-camera recording is valuable because it shows how quickly officers’ tactical problem changes. A seemingly controlled approach to a stationary stolen vehicle becomes a moving-vehicle threat and foot pursuit almost instantly. The incident also demonstrates why stolen-car recoveries can be unpredictable. Officers may not know who is inside, whether occupants will comply, whether weapons or drugs are present, or whether the driver will use the vehicle to force an escape. Parking lots make that uncertainty more dangerous because officers and civilians have limited room to move. In Waukegan that morning, the confrontation ended with two suspects in custody, three people receiving hospital treatment and a police sergeant suffering significant injuries. What began with a call locating a stolen Hyundai ultimately became a major felony case and, for Reins, a prison sentence.

 Watch the full body-camera sequence to see how an apparently quiet stolen-car recovery turns chaotic within seconds.