CHICAGO — Prosecutors say a parolee shot a carjacking victim in the leg because the man did not surrender his car fast enough during a hijacking last week in Chicago.
Judge Susana Ortiz held Sedrick Griffin, 28, without bail on Thursday afternoon. State authorities will also review his parole status, officials said.
The 34-year-old victim parked his red Mercedes on the 1500 block of East 75th Street around 11 p.m. on May 11. Before he even stepped out of the vehicle, Griffin tapped on the driver’s side window with a gun and demanded his keys, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt said during the bail hearing.
She said Griffin reached through the partially open window and pressed the gun to the man’s left thigh, threatening to shoot him if he did not comply. When the victim didn’t act quickly enough, Griffin allegedly fired a shot at point-blank range, sending a bullet clean through the victim’s leg and into the driver’s seat.
The victim opened the door and rolled onto the ground, leaving his keys inside the car. Griffin stepped over the man, got into the Mercedes, and drove away, said Dale-Schmidt. She said a surveillance camera recorded the entire incident.
Chicago police spotted the hijacked Mercedes on Tuesday, but the driver sped away when the cops tried to pull it over. According to Dale-Schmidt, officers eventually found the car parked in an alley with Griffin and an unidentified woman running from the vehicle.
Cops chased Griffin down and allegedly found the Mercedes’ key fob in his jacket pocket. Officers found a 9-millimeter bullet in the car and a bullet hole in the driver’s seat.
Griffin was released from prison in August after serving half of a three-year sentence that he received for aggravated battery of a peace officer.
He was also convicted of aggravated battery of a peace officer in 2015 for punching an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s deputy in the face and putting him into a chokehold as the deputy worked security at a school, Dale-Schmidt said. The deputy suffered a broken nose and a cut to his forehead that required stitches.
Griffin was also convicted of robbery of a senior citizen or disabled person in 2015. A judge gave him probation.
He is now charged with Class X aggravated vehicular hijacking and theft.