A Northwest Side man who crashed into a CTA bus early Thursday had a loaded rifle next to him, more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in his trunk, and an “anti-government manifesto” written in Polish, prosecutors said in bond court today.
Lukasz Strok, 29, was southbound on Clark Street around 4:20 a.m. when he ran three red lights and collided with the bus at Washington Street, according to the state’s allegations. The bus driver suffered two broken legs when she crashed into a bank building, police said. Two of her three passengers were treated at area hospitals.
Police found a loaded Smith & Wesson rifle with a loaded magazine “accessible to the driver” along with 10,000 rounds of ammunition and the alleged manifesto in Strok’s trunk, an assistant state’s attorney said Friday. Police said he admitted to “blowing a red light and hitting a bus,” but Strok’s attorney denied any such statements had been made.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force responded to the scene and later questioned Strok, according to statements made in bond court.
Prosecutors charged Strok with felony unauthorized use of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of DUI, reckless driving, and operating a vehicle without insurance.
Strok, who allegedly has a Firearm Owner’s ID card but does not hold a concealed carry license, purchased the rifle in Hoffman Estates on April 1
Prosecutors said he declined to take a blood alcohol test, but blood drawn at the hospital had an alcohol content of .07, which is one-hundredth of a point below the legal limit.
Prosecutors said he currently has a weapons charge pending in Michigan and prosecutors said he was charged with threatening to blow up Taft High School in 2009, but those charges were later dropped.
A public defender said Strok denies the allegations against him and called the manifesto “fiction from the internet.”
Judge Susana Ortiz set bail for Strok at $250,000. He will need to post a deposit bond of $25,000 to go free before trial.
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