Things just went from really bad to really, really bad for Jose Mendoza, the 32-year-old man who was shot in the face when he allegedly tried to invade the home of an off-duty Chicago cop in Albany Park this week.
Mendoza was still hospitalized Friday as prosecutors charged him with Class X home invasion, residential burglary, and criminal trespass to a residence in connection with the incident on the 3100 block of West Belle Plaine around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The off-duty officer and his wife were watching a movie with their 21-month old daughter when they heard someone brushing on their front door and turning the knob, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
As the wife shielded their daughter on the couch, the off-duty cop retrieved his gun from a safe and cracked the door to see what was going on, Murphy continued.
Mendoza, who was crouched down, allegedly sprang to his feet and tried to push his way in as the cop ordered him to stop and stand back. Murphy described a scene where the officer was holding his gun in one hand while he tried to force the door closed with his other.
As the struggle continued, the cop fired a single shot that struck Mendoza in the cheek and lodged near the back of his neck, Murphy said. Mendoza fell to the floor, and the officer’s wife called 911 for help.
According to Murphy, she and the off-duty cop appear “visibly shaken after the incident” in footage recorded by responding officers’ body cameras.
Mendoza is in critical condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, but he’s expected to survive, he said. The off-duty officer was treated for chest pain at Resurrection Hospital and released.
Murphy told Judge Susana Ortiz that Mendoza is on bail for a pending aggravated DUI in the suburbs. Mendoza also received a one-year sentence for reckless discharge of a firearm in 2019, he said.
Ortiz ordered Mendoza held without bail for violating the terms of his release in the DUI case. She set bail at $1 million in the home invasion case and ordered Mendoza to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a $100,000 deposit.
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