A parole escapee left his 4-year-old daughter alone in his car “with an AR-15 rifle and a whole lot of heroin” when he decided to run from police on Monday morning, a Cook County judge said during a bond court hearing Tuesday.
Two cops went to the 1500 block of West North Avenue at 11:20 a.m. after a tipster said parole absconder Gilberto Bustamante was in the area, prosecutors said.
The uniformed officers pulled over to talk with Bustamante when they saw him standing behind a car that had its trunk open. He ran, but the cops caught up with him less than a block away, and a five-minute battle broke out as the cops tried to arrest him, according to prosecutors.
During the brawl, Bustamante allegedly bit both officers, kicked one in the groin, tried to disarm one, and spit in both cops’ eyes, mouths, and noses.
When police returned to Bustamante’s car, they found $140,000 worth of heroin inside, with an AR-15 rifle sticking out of a shopping bag in the front seat, and Bustamante’s young daughter sitting alone in the back seat, prosecutors said.
During questioning, Bustamante told police “they were lucky he didn’t get into his car, or he would have shot them with his AR,” said an assistant state’s attorney.
Prosecutors charged Bustamante with Class X manufacture-delivery of a controlled substance, Class X felony armed violence, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, two counts of aggravated battery of police, child endangerment, two counts of resisting, possession of ammunition, and other crimes.
He is also charged with previously threatening to burn the mother of his child and her car. Bustamante was also wanted by the state for failing to comply with the requirements of his parole and on a DUI warrant.
After hearing the state’s lengthy presentation against Bustamante, Judge Mary Marubio said she believed there were many indications that he would not comply with the terms of a bail bond.
Marubio said state law prohibited her from holding Bustamante without bail on the new allegations. “If I could, I would,” she said.
Instead, she set bail at $500,000 and ordered him to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a $50,000 deposit bond. However, Bustamante will also be held without bail while he deals with state parole authorities.
Editor’s note: Our report previously stated incorrectly that the incident occurred in the 1500 block of West Fullerton Avenue.
