A Chicago man who paid just $500 to get out of jail after prosecutors charged him with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm in June was back in bond court on Wednesday as prosecutors accused him of putting a gun to the head of a 58-year-old woman that he allegedly carjacked Monday.
It’s another example of people being charged with violent crimes while on “affordable bail” for other violent cases.
Around 7 p.m. on January 4, a woman was backing into a parking space behind her West Side home when Demetrius Brown walked up, stuck a gun through her open driver’s side window, and placed the barrel of the firearm to her forehead, prosecutors said.
Brown allegedly ordered the woman out of the car and then drove away with her 2012 Nissan Maxima with two juveniles. Inside the car were the woman’s purple winter gloves and her wallet, which contained about $450 and a couple of $2 bills.
When police found the woman’s car about 45 minutes later, they saw Brown standing behind it. He allegedly bent down, then stood back up as cops approached.
Officers detained Brown, age 20, and the two juveniles who were still inside the car. Police said they found a loaded handgun in the spot where Brown had crouched down moments earlier. And he had a $2 bill in his pocket, they said.
The victim identified Brown as the man who put a gun to her head. Prosecutors said he wore his COVID mask low on his face, so the woman was able to get a good look at everything above his lips.
When police arrived at the station with Brown, they discovered a purple winter glove in their squad car’s back seat. It hadn’t been there before Brown was arrested, prosecutors said. The victim identified it as her property.
Prosecutors charged Brown with Class X armed vehicular hijacking.
Back on June 2, prosecutors charged Brown with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm, according to CPD records. In that case, he is accused of pointing a loaded handgun at a victim and robbing them on the West Side. A judge set his bail at $5,000 and Brown went home after posting a $500 deposit bond, records show.
In October, police arrested Brown for felony manufacture-delivery of cannabis, which would violate his bail bond in the armed robbery case. Instead, prosecutors dropped the cannabis case two days later, according to court records.
Wednesday, Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Brown held without bail in the carjacking case and ordered him held without bail for violating the terms of bond in the June robbery case.
Both juveniles are charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
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