Police on Friday were searching for the driver of a minivan who was recorded on video running over several Canada geese in southwest suburban Orland Park this week.
Two people in a vehicle recorded the incident on a dashboard camera and called police Tuesday, shortly after it occurred, police Lt. Tony Farrell said.
About 10:30 a.m. that day, about 20 geese were walking across 104th Avenue near 159th Street by a wetland when some were struck by the van that drove away without stopping, he said.
"We’re trying to identity the vehicle and identify the driver so we can ask them some questions," Farrell said.
He said the video shows the minivan drive through the flock as it crossed the street, leaving behind several wounded birds that later died.
Vincent Schilke was driving behind the minivan and captured the video on a GoPro camera attached to his dashboard.
"The van ahead of us, we didn't see him slowing down or anything. We asked, 'is he going to stop?' then, before we knew it, he went right over them and we saw the geese scattering," Schilke said. "They were injured pretty bad. There was nothing you could have done to save them."
Schilke uploaded the video to Youtube and gave police a copy of the original version which shows a blurry license plate.
"I love animals and I just don't see how someone can be so heartless ... no remorse. He didn't stop. He knew what he did, he didn't stop. He just kept driving," Schilke said.
Police believe the minivan is a Chevrolet Lumina APV or a Pontiac Trans Sport, made between 1990 and 1993, with a maroon top and silver or gray body.
The video, titled “heartless man plows through geese,” was uploaded to YouTube later Tuesday. It shows the vehicle driving on various Orland Park-area roads before turning onto 104th Avenue behind the minivan. In the last 20 seconds of the video, the van is seen driving through the flock of geese.
That area of 104th Avenue was shut down for about an hour while the scene was cleaned up Tuesday.
Police said the video recording and stills provided by the owner of the vehicle with the dashcam were being used by police in their investigation.
