CHICAGO — A Chicago man who received probation in a carjacking case late last year got shot this month while trying to carjack a rideshare driver at gunpoint, prosecutors say.
Darick Benson, 20, was ordered held without bail by Judge Charles Beach on a fresh charge of discharging a firearm during an aggravated vehicular hijacking and discharging a firearm during an armed robbery, according to court records.
The rideshare driver picked up Benson and a juvenile female in the 1500 block of South Millard shortly after midnight on August 12, Assistant State’s Attorney John Kyle said during Benson’s bail hearing.
Benson allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the driver’s head from the back seat as the girl, also in the back seat, patted down his right pants pocket.
Kyle said the driver, a 26-year-old concealed carry license holder, slowed his SUV down and jumped out while it was still moving. He ran a short distance, pulled a gun from his left pants pocket, and fired three shots at his car.
Benson returned fire and tried to drive the man’s vehicle, but the SUV wouldn’t operate because the key fob was out of range in the driver’s pocket, according to Kyle.
He said Benson and the girl ran from the SUV as a passing motorist called 911.
But Chicago police were already on their way because the gunfire triggered a nearby ShotSpotter, Kyle continued. Officers found two phones in the SUV, but the driver’s phone, which he left behind when he bailed out, was gone.
This story is made possible by contributions to the Cook County Courtroom Transparency Fund.
The cops found the girl about a block away. She had a graze wound on her right arm. Kyle explained that one of the phones in the SUV was hers, and the victim’s phone was found on the same block.
Benson was found near the entrance to a garden apartment with a firearm about three feet away, Kyle said. Police said Benson received a gunshot wound to his leg.
Kyle also told the judge that Benson is on probation for possessing a stolen motor vehicle because he was found driving a woman’s Jeep after it was carjacked in August 2021. Prosecutors initially charged Benson with vehicular hijacking but agreed to let him plead guilty to a lesser charge of possessing a stolen motor vehicle in December in exchange for the probation commitment.
Benson was also adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for robbery in 2020.
“We have nothing but a complaining witness’ statement here,” countered Emily Motin, the assistant public defender who represented Benson during the hearing. “While I acknowledge that this is a serious allegation and these are serious charges, we simply don’t know—we can’t rely on the complaining witness alone to hold Mr. Benson [without bail] here.”
She said he is attending high school while working at KFC. His girlfriend is expecting their child in two months.
But Judge Beach noted that the fact that Benson was shot is “tangential evidence of your proximity in time to that offense.”
“The fact that you could not comply with the terms of your probation tells me that you probably cannot comply with the terms of bail,” Beach continued. “Accordingly, you will be held without bail.”