CHICAGO — Prosecutors say a Chicago man tried to carjack a driver at a gas station but gave up because he could not operate the victim’s car, which is equipped with special features the victim needs so he can drive with a disability.
Marquell Davis, 21, was also charged with successfully carjacking another driver that same evening and with illegal gun possession. Judge David Kelly held him without bail.
The allegations stem from a series of incidents on the evening of November 3, but prosecutors didn’t file charges against Davis until this month.
Starting around 7 p.m. that night, a stolen Jeep SRT pulled into a gas station in the 10000 block of South Michigan and stopped next to a 43-year-old man who was fueling his Infiniti.
Davis stepped out of the Jeep and pointed a tan handgun at the victim’s back, prosecutors said. The man turned around to discover a pistol aimed at his face. He dropped to the ground, and Davis allegedly demanded his keys, rifled through his pockets, and then hopped into the Infiniti’s passenger seat, which an accomplice drove away. The Jeep followed them.
A prosecutor told Judge Kelly that surveillance video placed Davis at the scene of the hijacking, and his phone pinged at the gas station and along the route, the car followed after the crime.
A little over two hours later, the same stolen Jeep pulled into a gas station in the 3100 block of South Michigan, a half-mile from Chicago Police headquarters.
Video shows Davis getting out of the Jeep and pointing a gun at a 44-year-old man who had just filled up his BMW, prosecutors said. Like the first victim, this man dropped to the ground as Davis allegedly demanded his keys and went through his pockets.
But when Davis got behind the wheel of the BMW, he couldn’t figure out how to operate it because the car had specially-installed features that allowed the victim to drive, prosecutors said. Officials did not elaborate on the kind of equipment involved or the victim’s disability during Davis’ bond hearing.
Davis gave up, hopped back into the Jeep with an accomplice, and fled.
A Chicago police helicopter located the Jeep a short time later and followed it for 23 minutes until it stopped in the 9400 block of South Woodlawn and three people ran from it.
Officers arrested Davis nearby with a backpack containing a phone, the second victim’s ID, and 58 pills they believed were ecstasy, prosecutors said. Davis had the Infiniti’s key fob in his pocket, and cops allegedly found a loaded tan handgun inside a trash can along the path he followed while running from the Jeep.
Police could not get approval for robbery and carjacking charges at the time, but prosecutors did charge Davis with felony possession of ecstasy.
Prosecutors said he received probation after pleading guilty to the drug charge this month. Davis walked out of court minutes after being sentenced, only to be arrested on the hijacking and robbery charges by waiting cops.
Prosecutors did not explain why they decided to charge Davis with the crimes months after he was first arrested.