We’ve shared more than a few outrageous stories about what some people have allegedly done while free on “affordable bail” in Chicago. Few reach the level achieved by 18-year-old Randy Wilson.
Long story short, prosecutors say Wilson shot a teenager while on electronic monitoring for robbery, then went AWOL from the court system, and subsequently threatened another man with a gun before cops caught up with him. Did we mention that when police arrested him for the robbery, he already had an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle for yet another case? He did.
Here’s the story.
It all started on May 15 of last year cops arrested Wilson for criminal trespass to a vehicle. He was released to await trial. Not a big deal.
A month later, on June 11, Chicago police arrested him again. They say he was carrying a gun this time. Prosecutors charged him with possessing a firearm without a valid Firearm Owner’s ID card. He was released to await trial again.
Three weeks later, a 50-year-old man told police that Wilson and three other men robbed him and two teenagers on the South Side. Police arrested Wilson. They said in his arrest report that Wilson was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet when they found him. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of attempted robbery with a firearm.
Someone paid a $2,500 deposit bond to get him out of jail again — while being ordered to be on electronic monitoring, of course.
There was a little hiccup on March 11. That’s when Wilson failed to show up for court and the judge issued an arrest warrant. We’ll get back to this in a moment.
Wilson remained AWOL until April 25th. Police caught up with him after a man reported that Wilson walked up to his car and pointed a handgun at him. The victim said he thought the incident was a matter of mistaken identity because Wilson quickly lowered the gun and walked away.
A judge finally decided to have Wilson held without bail, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office filed an escape charge against him.
On Aug. 19, Wilson pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and to unlawful use of a weapon in the two most recent cases. Judge Carol Howard sentenced him to 2-1/2 years for the robbery case and a consecutive one-year term for pointing the gun at the guy who was sitting in his car.
He’s currently in prison with a parole date of May 20, 2020.
So, about that failure to appear in court hiccup we mentioned.
On Sept. 17, a month after Wilson went to prison, prosecutors charged him with five counts of attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm. They say he shot a 17-year-old boy on the 4100 block of South Prairie around 1:40 a.m. on March 9 — two days before he skipped bail.
He has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charges. The electronic monitoring escape charge is pending.