A man on probation for armed robbery, on probation for escape from electronic monitoring, and with a pending juvenile case for aggravated battery of a police officer is now charged with committing an armed carjacking over the weekend.
Prosecutors said Michael Moss, 20, and unnamed accomplices lured a pizza delivery driver into an ambush on the 5000 block of South Union during a driving snowstorm around 11:44 p.m. Saturday.
The driver had to stop about a block short of the delivery address because the side street was impassible due to snow. A group of men approached then approached on both sides of his car.
Moss, wearing a distinctive blue camouflage coat, stood on the driver’s side while another man pointed an AK47 rifle at the victim from the passenger side, Assistant State’s Attorney Franka D’Antignac said.
The victim tried to drive away but couldn’t due to road conditions, so he complied with orders to get out of the vehicle.
Moss came “almost face-to-face” with the victim as he reached into the car and tried to go through the man’s pockets, D’Antignac said. He then ordered the driver out and got into the passenger seat as another offender again went through the victim’s pockets, according to D’Antignac.
Moss drove away with the car as another carjacker sat in the passenger seat, she said. Police found the vehicle stuck in the snow and unoccupied about two blocks away. About a block from the abandoned car, cops found Moss walking down the middle of the street in a blue camouflage coat that the victim described, D’Antignac said.
Moss was arrested after the alleged victim identified him as one of the carjackers.
“I’m being racially profiled for something I didn’t do,” Moss said in bond court Monday after his lawyer advised him not to speak. “I was at a friend’s house.“
Prosecutors charged Moss with one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm. He is currently on two-years probation for a robbery in 2020 and for escaping from electronic monitoring, D’Antignac said. He also has an on-going felony juvenile case for aggravated battery of police and resisting, she added.
“You are doing way, way, way, way, way too much out there,” Judge John Lyke said after hearing the state’s allegations. “You are still presumed innocent. I want the record to be crystal clear.”
Lyke then ordered him held without bail on the carjacking case and for violating probation in the robbery and escape matters.
“Michael Moss has been given multiple opportunities to fly right,” Lyke said.
Update July 31, 2022 — Moss pleaded guilty on July 18 to one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon. He received a sentence of eight years from Judge Catherine Haberkorn.