CHICAGO — A man who allegedly opened fire on an internet installation crew because he thought one of them stole his dog was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday. Jaquan Shines, 26, also received an eight-year sentence for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a previous incident.
An AT&T technician went to Shines’ home in January 2022 to install TV and internet services, but he had to call a second technician to help with the job.
While waiting for his co-worker to arrive, the installer heard people inside Shines’ home talking about a dog. Moments later, Shines accused the technician of taking the animal, prosecutors claimed.
Shines allegedly held the technician at gunpoint and forced him to start looking for the dog.
The technician crawled around on the basement floor looking for the dog until Shines allegedly demanded to see the interior of his work truck. After searching the vehicle while Shines held the technician at gunpoint, they returned to the house and Shines put a gun to the man’s head, prosecutors said. Shines allegedly told the tech that he had ten minutes to find the dog or he’d kill him.
A few moments later, the victim spotted an open door and swiftly fled. Upon reaching the alley, he searched for an empty building to hide in until the second technician arrived.
Once his co-worker showed up, he joined the other technician in his work van, and they sped away. Both men saw Shines open fire on them as they left, but they escaped injury, prosecutors said. Shines then got into a vehicle and chased after the men, but the victims escaped by running red lights and sought help at the 5th District police station, according to the allegations.
When prosecutors charged Shines in that case, they also filed charges against him in an unrelated, separate sexual assault. Those allegations stemmed from an assault of a 14-year-old girl that occurred months earlier.
Shines, who was 21 at the time, did not know the girl when he saw her on the street and exchanged numbers in August 2020, prosecutors said. She later went to his home after he texted her an invitation. The two engaged in “consensual touching,” but the girl told him to stop after he took off his pants and exposed his privates, prosecutors said.
Instead, Shines allegedly struggled with the girl, took her to the ground, and repeatedly tried to have sex with her. According to prosecutors, the girl eventually got away and immediately told a friend about it.
DNA material collected after the assault was matched to Shines in the days leading up to the TV installer incident, prosecutors said.
On Monday, Shines pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle and aggravated criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm, according to court records.
Judge John Lyke ordered him to serve half of the 12-year sentence he received for the gun case and 85% of the sexual assault sentence. The sentences will be served concurrently.
