Wilobo Abdu caught a big break after Chicago police accused him of possessing a handgun with an automatic fire switch in Rogers Park two years ago. The judge sentenced him to first-time weapon offender probation. If he completed the two-year probation successfully, the charge would be dismissed, and he wouldn’t have a felony conviction on his record.
The clean slate he could have earned is now in jeopardy. Prosecutors say he tried to carjack a man at gunpoint in West Ridge four months after he accepted the probation deal.
On May 23, 2021, a Chicago police surveillance camera operator said they saw a man walking with a handgun near Jonquil Terrance and Paulina Street in Rogers Park. In Abdu’s arrest report, police called the intersection a “high gang and narcotics area.”
The report said patrol officers went to the intersection, stopped Abdu, 21, and found a 40-caliber Glock handgun with an extended magazine, laser sight, and automatic fire switch.
According to court records, he pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon on March 2, 2023, and received first-time weapon offender probation from Judge Kenneth Wadas. Prosecutors dropped the machine gun charges in the deal.
Four months later, around 1 a.m. on July 11, someone tried to carjack a 47-year-old man in the 2300 block of West Devon. The victim reported that a man armed with a gun tried to open his car door but failed to gain control of the vehicle.
Now, prosecutors say the would-be hijacker was Wilbo Abdu. He’s charged with attempted vehicular hijacking with a firearm, unlawful vehicular invasion, and multiple counts of attempted robbery with a firearm and unlawful restraint.
Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered him to pay a $10,000 bail deposit to be released from jail. But Srivastava also held him without bail for violating the terms of his probation, so Abdu won’t be able to go home unless Judge Wadas decides to reduce the no-bail hold.
Court records show prosecutors also charged Abdu with a felon gun charge in October 2020, but they dropped the case ten days later.