CHICAGO — The man charged with shooting at U.S. Postal Inspectors as they hunted for an armed robber in the suburbs last week was wearing an ankle monitor for allegedly possessing a machine gun less than a month ago, court records show.
On December 18, prosecutors told Judge John Fairman that 19-year-old Jesus Santillan had two firearms with extended magazines, including one equipped with a full-auto switch, in his backpack when he ran from a stolen car in Bridgeview. Judge Fairman rejected the state’s detention request and sent Santillan home with a nighttime curfew on the court’s electronic monitoring program.
Santillan is now accused of shooting at postal inspectors on January 8 as they searched for the man who robbed a mail carrier at gunpoint as the victim worked her route in Harvey.
As a mail carrier worked her route near 158th Street and Union Avenue, a man pointed a handgun equipped with a drum magazine in her direction and demanded her belongings, officials said. He then demanded access to her U.S. Postal Service vehicle and stole a tub of mail.
Shortly after the holdup, two postal inspectors approached three men near an alley to speak with them about the robbery, officials said.
As the inspectors approached, Santillan allegedly pointed a handgun at them and opened fire. No injuries were reported. Federal officials said the inspectors did not return fire, but they did chase and arrest Santillan after he ran into a nearby home.
Postal inspectors found a mail tub in the kitchen of the residence and located the alleged robber, 18-year-old Ahmel Holmes of Kankakee, in the basement. Also in the basement were a 9-millimeter handgun, a plastic bag filled with mail, a drum magazine, and a disassembled 40-caliber handgun, according to a federal criminal complaint.
On Holmes’ phone, a postal inspector allegedly found a draft message stating, “We f***ed up they raising it all upstairs we hiding, I don’t got s**t on me but qué mas Asia I just came for my Jordan’s cuase I lefft em cause I was using crocs , but than this nigha shot and than police came n it was at a police officer ,”
Machine guns a growing problem
New Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced on December 2, her first weekday in office, that prosecutors would immediately begin seeking detention petitions against anyone accused of possessing a machine gun.
But, as Santillan’s case demonstrates, it takes two to tango. Her efforts will only go so far if judges don’t approve the detention petitions.
Nearly all machine guns confiscated in Chicago are illegally modified Glock handguns, which can be converted to automatic fire by outfitting them with an inexpensive after-market device called a “Glock switch” or “sear switch.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office announced that agents in its Chicago office seized 473 shipments containing a total of 1,507 “switches” in 2024.
“In the months of July, August, and September, officers seized a total of 241 shipments containing a whopping 948 switches,” an agency spokesperson said. “Most of these seizures were from China and were heading to various locations throughout the U.S.”
