CHICAGO — A Cook County judge rejected prosecutors’ requests to detain a trucker accused of shooting up another vehicle during a road rage incident on a suburban Chicago expressway this week.
Illinois State Police troopers responded to calls of shots fired on northbound Interstate 55 near 1st Avenue in southwest suburban Summit around 1:38 p.m. on Tuesday, the agency said on Facebook.
They located a driver who told them that a trucker shot at him during a road rage incident, according to state police. While the man was not injured, bullets did strike his vehicle.
The truck driver, identified by ISP as 39-year-old Jose Gonzalez of Chicago, was arrested at the scene. He is charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm.
During a detention hearing on Thursday, prosecutors asked Judge Linzey Jones to detain Gonzalez before trial as both a safety threat and a flight risk, according to clerk of court records.
“Defendant pointed a firearm at victim and shot at the victim and struck victim’s vehicle during a road rage incident,” an assistant state’s attorney wrote in a pretrial detention petition. “Weapon was recovered and gunshot is visible on victim’s vehicle.”
Jones rejected both requests, setting Gonzalez free with standard instructions to stay in the state, show up in court, and refrain from contacting the alleged victim.
ISP did not name Jones or reveal that prosecutors asked him to detain Gonzalez. Instead, the agency noted in its Facebook post that “Gonzalez was released pursuant to the provisions in the Pretrial Fairness Act.”
