An Uptown man who was released on affordable bail after he allegedly fled from a crashed, carjacked vehicle in Lincoln Park last month is now jailed in DuPage County for armed robbery. And his bail there is much less affordable.
On March 26, Chicago police arrested Jerry Thomas Jr.on the 2700 block of North Wilton after he and another man ran from an SUV that crashed into a nearby residential garage, a CPD spokesperson said last month.
The wrecked vehicle was taken a few days earlier in an armed carjacking in suburban North Chicago, according to police
Prosecutors charged Thomas, age 18, with criminal trespass to a vehicle and a judge released him on his own recognizance the next day. The other man who allegedly fled from the car, 19-year-old Daniel Salas, was carrying a firearm, according to police. He continues to be held without bail on multiple felony counts.
Now, prosecutors in DuPage County are accusing Thomas of participating in the armed robbery of a gas station in the west suburbs Saturday.
Police responded to a robbery call at the Shell station, 1600 West Lake, around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, according to a media release from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Officers saw a man running from the station and subsequently found Thomas hiding under a van in a nearby hotel parking lot, prosecutors said. A gun was found under the van and Thomas was carrying a mask and $180, according to the statement.
Thomas is accused of jumping over the gas station counter, grabbing the cashier, and forcing her to open two registers at gunpoint while accomplices took cigarettes and kept a lookout. The other offenders remain on the loose.
Police recovered more cash and an ammunition magazine in the area between the gas station and the van where Thomas was found, prosecutors said.
A DuPage County judge set bail for Thomas at $850,000. He’s charged with armed robbery and aggravated robbery.
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