ST. LOUIS – A suspect being arrested by a St. Louis police officer as both were struck by a driver Monday morning has been identified as a 15-year-old teenager from Illinois.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Thursday that the 15-year-old, an alleged suspect in a carjacking case, was struck and injured by another driver. Officers did not release the 15-year-old’s name due to his juvenile status. Police also noted the teenager remains hospitalized in critical condition.

On Monday, police say the 15-year-old was one of several suspects in a vehicle that led officers on a chase on Interstate 70. At some point, when the officer stopped and attempted to arrest the 15-year-old suspect, an unrelated driver struck both the officer and the teenager.

The officer, critically injured in the line of duty, has since been identified as 31-year-old Nathan Spiess. He is resting at a hospital after undergoing surgery on Tuesday.

During news conferences this week, St. Louis Police Chief Tracy said the incident began Monday morning after the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force sent out an alert regarding a Toyota Rav 4 that had been carjacked in East St. Louis. That vehicle was spotted in the 4800 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue in the Kingsway East neighborhood.

The suspects got out of that vehicle and entered an Acura, which had been reported stolen out of Belleville, Tracy said. St. Louis police spotted the stolen Acura in the 5400 block of Queens Avenue in the Mark Twain neighborhood. Police attempted to make a traffic stop but the Acura sped off.

During that pursuit, Tracy said the driver of the Acura attempted to swerve and hit an officer who was laying spike strips on the road. The officer avoided being hit and the car was successfully spiked.

The Acura entered eastbound I-70 from North Kingshighway Boulevard but struck another vehicle at Shreve Avenue.

Chief Tracy said the driver of the Acura, identified as Campbell, attempted to escape on foot, but was arrested nearby. The front passenger, a 20-year-old, stayed in the vehicle and was taken into custody. The third suspect left the backseat, jumped the median, and tried to run away.

One of the pursuing officers, later identified as Spiess, got out of his vehicle and held the third suspect at gunpoint. When the officer scaled the median and entered the eastbound expressway, both he and the suspect were struck by an oncoming Cadillac, Tracy said.

On Tuesday, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office announced charges against the driver who struck Spiess as well as the driver Spiess and his colleagues were chasing after.

City prosecutors charged Mehki R. Campbell, 18, of East St. Louis, with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, aggravated fleeing a stop, and resisting arrest.

Frank Carr, 62, of St. Louis, was charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident – physical injury and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

After reviewing surveillance video showing the Cadillac flee the scene, police ran the vehicle’s plates and saw it was registered to Carr. Police later located and arrested Carr. They said he confessed to hitting Spiess and the suspect with his car and having the Cadillac towed to a nearby body shop.