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| Justin Tackett (inset) was arrested in the Navy Pier parking garage, police said. | CPD; Wikipedia |
A Kankakee man was found carrying a handgun in a Navy Pier parking garage as emergency workers tried to quell a series of incidents following the Fourth of July fireworks presentation, according to Chicago police.
Justin Tackett, 28, is charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of possessing a firearm without a valid Firearm Owner’s ID (FOID) card and possessing ammunition without a valid FOID, police said. He was due in bond court today.
Officers responded to the pier’s parking garage at 10:37 p.m. after 911 callers reported a man with a gun inside a vehicle. Tuckett tried to drive away as officers approached, but a witness used their car to block him in, police said.
Fourteen people were trampled in a stampede sparked by false claims of an active shooter at the pier following Thursday’s fireworks. Additionally, three people were stabbed in two separate incidents outside of the pier gates as large crowds left the area shortly after 10 p.m.
In all, police said 31 juveniles and five adults were arrested in connection with the Navy Pier fireworks display.
Update March 11, 2022 — Judge Maria Kuriakos-Cecil sentenced Tackett to a one-year prison sentence with credit for 217 days spent in custody after he pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon. He was not required to spend any time in prison after receiving time-served credits, according to state records.
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