It’s good news, bad news for a man who prosecutors say tried to carjack a woman at gunpoint while on electronic monitoring for a pending felony gun case.
The good news is the woman decided not to pursue hijacking charges against him. The bad news is prosecutors weren’t so forgiving with his other matters.
Police officers on the West Side were watching CPD surveillance camera feeds around 7:30 a.m. on January 11 when they saw a man standing on the 3800 block of West Roosevelt with a gun in his hand, according to prosecutors.
When cops approached the man, identified as Mandrell Horton, he dropped the gun, put his hands in the air, and laid on the ground, Assistant State’s Attorney Jocelyn Schieve said.
Police allegedly seized a loaded 9-millimeter handgun equipped with a silencer at the scene.
Witnesses told police Horton, age 24, had just tried to carjack a woman about a block away, Schieve alleged. He opened the woman’s passenger door, ordered her to hand over the keys, and then began walking to the driver’s side, Schieve said. But he apparently changed his mind and fled.
After police detained Horton, the woman arrived on the scene and identified him as the would-be carjacker based on his facial tattoos, according to Schieve, but she refused to file charges and left.
According to Schieve, CPD located surveillance video that shows Horton trying to carjack the woman.
While he won’t have to worry about hijacking charges, Horton is now charged with a fresh count of Class X felony armed habitual criminal for allegedly possessing the gun on the street.
Horton was already on electronic monitoring for a pending charge of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon at the time of the incidents.
A judge initially ordered him held without bail when those charges were filed in September 2019. But another judge lowered his bail on January 14 of last year and allowed him to go home on electronic monitoring by posting a $5,000 bond.
He has previous felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, manufacture-delivery, and aggravated battery of police, Schieve said.
Horton’s defense attorney said he claims he was being shot at, and he carried the gun for protection.
“His life was at risk,” the attorney said, “but there’s no consideration that he was in danger and may have been drugged by the alleged [carjacking] victim.”
Judge Charles Beach ordered Horton held without bail.