Fleeing Suspect Feared Jail: Mother

Andrew Banaski’s decision to flee the police rather than face being arrested came as no surprise to his mother.

But her heart is broken knowing why her son felt he needed to run, and that his choice ultimately led to his death, she said.

“He had been in jail before, and he didn’t want to go back,” said Tracey Banaski, of . “It’s just a scary place. Andrew never wanted to be alone, and you have to be alone there. … He said, ‘Mom, I’m not going to turn myself in (on the outstanding warrant filed against him) until I know you have the money to bail me out.’”

It was not the first time Andrew Banaski, 20, 3904 Hennepin Drive, ran rather than face arrest, she said. In fact, one of the warrants were trying to arrest him on June 19 stemmed from his decision to flee a court hearing rather than take an immediate drug test ordered by the judge – one he knew he would fail and for which he would be taken back to jail, his mother said.

That’s why, when police tried to arrest him on what were misdemeanor charges, he took off on foot and ran into a lake behind the homes in the 3400 block of Lake Shore Drive.

“He was scared. That’s all it was,” Tracey Banaski said of her son, who grew up in Romeoville and graduated from Plainfield Central High School.

She said she’s been told Andrew did not drown, but went into shock and was unresponsive when police pulled him from the water. Despite efforts to resuscitate him, he was in critical condition and died Saturday at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.

“The police did try to bring him back,” she said. “They did everything they could.”

An autopsy conducted Monday was inconclusive, Will County Coroner Pat O’Neil said. Any evidence of drowning may have been eliminated through efforts to save him when he was pulled from the water and during his treatment in the hospital, O’Neil said. More test results are pending.

Tracey Banaski said the root of her son’s problem was bi-polar disorder, and it often got him in trouble. At the time of his death, he was also facing theft, burglary, illegal consumption of alcohol and disorderly conduct charges, according to records on the Will County circuit clerk’s Web site.

His manic-depression caused him to abuse of marijuana, which he used to try to calm some his up-and-down emotions.

“My son had a drug problem,” she said. “I begged for help for him. He was in and out of rehab. I’ve taken him to psychiatrists. We’ve been to counseling numerous times.

“He chose to self-medicate. That’s what made him feel better and helped him to function,” she said. “He made bad choices that led him to (criminal  actions). … It’s not OK. (Marijuana) is still illegal.”

Ironically, the mental condition that prompted him to take risky actions also made him exceptionally afraid of being isolated from family and friends, Tracey Banaski said. She said that even though she spoke to him once a day while he was in jail and visited him twice a week, he couldn’t shake the fear of being alone and by himself, she said.

On the day police tried to arrest him, she had spoken to him six or seven times before 1:30 p.m., she said. “That’s the kind of close relationship we had,” she said.

She told him she loved him at the end of their last call and he said the same to her, Banaski said.  

That’s helped give her some piece of mind, she said. And she hopes that by talking about her son’s fear and his unexpected death, parents might be reminded that life is fleeting.

“Hug your babies and let them know you love them,” she said. “You never know when it will be the last time.”