Charges have been filed against three men who allegedly had firearms near the scenes of two shootings in the Uptown neighborhood this month, according to court records. Prosecutors say two of the men worked together to hide a gun and spent shell casings inside a potato chip bag after one incident.
None of the men is charged with firing a handgun or causing injury.
Around 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 6, police responded to multiple calls of shots fired and people running from the intersection of Montrose and Hazel.
Officers searched the area and found a handgun, eleven rounds of ammunition, and three spent shell casings inside a Ruffles potato chip bag on the street at 4441 North Hazel, but no arrests were immediately made.
Investigators secured surveillance video that allegedly shows 18-year-old Davieon Balthazar handing a gun to 30-year-old Patrick Lee White moments after the shots were fired. White then placed the gun inside the potato chip bag, according to court documents.
Police arrested White at his home on the 800 block of West Sunnyside the next day. Prosecutors charged him with one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Balthazar turned himself in at the 19th District police station around 11 a.m. on Feb. 12. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
White was released from jail after he paid a $200 deposit bond. Balthazar, who told police he’s a student at Innovations High School, is free on a $500 deposit bond.
Third man charged
Later on Feb. 6, someone fired shots from an SUV at Montrose and Hazel, striking a 32-year-old man in the ankle as he walked across the street, police said.
While investigators were conducting an investigation in the victim’s nearby apartment, officers allegedly saw 28-year-old Dominique Overton try to run from the area after he spotted police, according to CPD.
Officers “announced their office and tried to stop the subject at which time a weapon was observed and recovered,” a police spokesperson told CWBChicago shortly after Overton’s arrest.
Prosecutors charged Overton with felony unlawful use of a concealed weapon and felony possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. He is being held without bail.