Chicago — Two men were ordered held without bail on Thursday after prosecutors said they hid firearms, including one equipped to generate automatic gunfire, in the snack chip aisle of a convenience store when they saw Chicago police coming their way. The alleged gun stashing was captured on store surveillance video.
Officers on patrol saw James McCorker, 20, get out of a car and walk into a gas station store in the 100 block of East 75th Street around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Prosecutor Sarah Dale-Schmidt said the vehicle is involved in a Chicago police vehicular hijacking investigation.
The car drove away when the officers entered the gas station lot, Dale-Schmidt said, and the cops started speaking with McCorker and a juvenile. Moments later, McCorker, the juvenile, and Remy Walker, 21, headed to the chip aisle and… Well, let’s watch the video, which was posted online by Chicago Critter (If you’re seeing a warning about “sensitive content,” don’t worry. There’s nothing graphic in the video):
Dale-Schmidt said officers who searched the chip rack found a loaded 40-caliber handgun with an extended magazine; a loaded 9-millimeter handgun that was stolen in Merrillville equipped with an extended magazine, an auto-fire switch, and a laser sight; and a third loaded handgun, which was stolen in Chicago.
She said police watched the surveillance video and determined that Walker put the 40-caliber gun on the rack and McCorker stashed the stolen gun with the auto-fire switch.
McCorker was adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for carjacking in 2017, retail theft in 2019, and armed robbery in 2021. He received probation in each case and completed all three sentences unsatisfactorily, Dale-Schmidt said. As an adult, he was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon last year after police allegedly found a loaded gun in his front jacket pocket. He is now facing a charge of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Walker was convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2020. While on first-time gun offender probation for that case, he was convicted of another aggravated unlawful use of a weapon case, according to Dale-Schmidt. He completed parole in November. He is now charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. Walker is charged with Class X armed habitual criminal.
Their defense attorneys argued that the police had no reason to stop the group. Neither lawyer had seen the surveillance video, and they questioned how police could know if the men were responsible for placing the guns in the chip aisle. Walker’s attorney also pointed out that he was never in the car McCorker allegedly got out of, furthering her argument that police had no reason to stop him.
Judge Barbara Dawkins handled the bail hearing. Information about charges filed against the juvenile, if any, were not available.
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