A three-time felon is accused of turning an Old Town street “into the OK Corral” during “a straight-out gun battle” one evening this summer, a Cook County Judge said Thursday.
Brandon Brown, 36, was appearing in front of Judge John Lyke after prosecutors charged Brown with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in connection with a shoot-out in the 1300 block of North Hudson that left one man hospitalized on July 18. Brown was arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop.
Police found the 35-year-old victim lying unconscious between two cars after multiple gunmen exchanged gunfire in the incident, which was captured on a nearby CPD surveillance camera, CWBChicago reported at the time.
Wednesday, prosecutors said video footage showed two men – one of whom would become the shooting victim – emerge from a car that pulled onto the block around 7:30 p.m. as a crowd of about 20 people stood in the street and on a nearby sidewalk.
A gun battle broke out between the two men and bystanders. Video allegedly shows Brown duck down during the gunfire, grab a pistol from his pocket, and pop up twice to fire shots during the shoot-out. He then fled in a car, prosecutors said.
The chief of security at a nearby housing complex who viewed the video allegedly recognized Brown because he is barred from the property.
Prosecutors said video evidence is not strong enough for them to charge Brown with actually shooting the victim. Nonetheless, Judge Lyke spared few words after hearing the state’s allegations.
Brown “turned a street in the city of Chicago…into the OK Corral,” Lyke said as he summarized the prosecution’s complaint before ordering Brown held in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Brown will be required to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a $35,000 deposit bond to get out of jail.
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