Maybe mother knows best?
John T. Daniels caught a break Wednesday morning when the owner of a freshly-carjacked Lexus police say he was driving declined to pursue charges.
According to court records, not everyone has been so generous with Daniels, who was arrested in Chicago five times last year — including once on a complaint signed by his own mother.
In an arrest report, police said that Daniels was driving the alleged carjacking victim’s Lexus when they pulled it over on the West Side around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday.
The car’s owner told police that a pair of carjackers pointed a gun at him and took his car along with his money and keys as he shoveled out a parking space on the 1400 block of North Cleaver a few hours earlier. Records show the 27-year-old victim lives less than a block from the hijacking scene.
Cops detained Daniels for criminal trespass to a vehicle.
While police were processing him at the station, the victim’s driver’s license, debit card, and medical marijuana card fell out of his pants, according to a CPD arrest report.
But the victim reportedly told police that he “felt sorry for” the people who took his Lexus and said, “they probably need a car.”
Cops released the other three people who were inside the Lexus with Daniels. Meanwhile, Daniels was hauled in front of a judge Wednesday for failing to appear in court on a pending felony retail theft case. Judge Edward Maloney released him.
In that case, Daniels is charged with participating in a group retail theft from the Jordan Store, 32 South State, on August 5. Police said surveillance video showed a man wearing a multi-colored hoodie carrying a duffle bag containing six Jordan shoes out of the store along with other men.
When police stopped Daniels nearby, he was wearing a multi-colored hoodie and was carrying a new box of Jordan shoes, according to CPD records.
Last June, Daniels’ own mother had him arrested for allegedly breaking out the front window of her home, according to police and court records. The case was dropped in November.
Daniels was also arrested on June 1 by officers who were trying to protect the area around 59th Street and Ashland from looters. Cops said he was with a group of people who wandered in and out of traffic and refused to comply with orders to stay out of the street. The city dropped those charges on November 5.
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