A man who allegedly escaped from electronic monitoring while awaiting trial for threatening to shoot the employees of a suburban restaurant is back in custody after police reportedly found him driving a recently-carjacked SUV in Humboldt Park.
According to prosecutors, Abdurahman Elshahawy, 21, had been AWOL from electronic monitoring since July 3.
In the earlier case, Elshahawy is accused of lifting his shirt to display a handgun as he threatened to shoot the employees of a suburban Popeye’s chicken restaurant where he used to work in August 2019.
Prosecutors said he fled the scene in a stolen car and cops found a 9-millimeter handgun in the vehicle after they arrested him.
During a bond hearing, Judge John Mahoney ordered Elshahawy held without bail.
“You can’t be walking around with a 9-millimeter gun threatening to shoot everyone in a restaurant, taking off and then crashing a car,” Mahoney said, according to the Oak Lawn Patch.
“If I could do it, I’d give you a double no bond,” Mahoney reportedly said.
Two months later, a different judge allowed Elshahawy to post a $5,000 bond and go home on electronic monitoring, records show.
Then, around 8:30 p.m. on January 10, an Albany Park man parked his car and began walking home on the 3800 block of West Carmen when a carjacker confronted him. The offender pointed a gun with a laser sight at his chest and said, “give me your keys or I’ll kill you,” according to a CPD report.
The victim complied and the hijacker drove away with his 2017 Nissan Rogue.
Two days later, police were on patrol in Humboldt Park when their car’s license plate reader alerted them to the stolen Nissan Rogue nearby. Prosecutors said Elshahawy bailed out of the driver’s seat and ran.
Cops allegedly found him hiding behind a fence with the Rogue’s keys in his possession. Prosecutors said there was a handgun-shaped pellet gun in the Rogue’s center console with a laser sight attached.
Prosecutors have charged him with escape and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, but not with hijacking the car.
Now that Elshahawy is back in custody, Judge Charles Beach ordered him held without bail for violating the terms of bond in the suburban case. Beach set bail at $1 million on a new charge of escape and $200,000 for the new stolen motor vehicle charge.
Elshahawy is due back in court on February 3.