CHICAGO — After Darrius Wilson shot at another driver’s car on a Chicago expressway in December 2022, it took an FBI task force more than a year to find and arrest him in Florida.
Once authorities returned him to Chicago to face charges, a judge rejected a state request to keep him in jail. Instead, he was released with a nighttime curfew.
On Thursday, Wilson entered a guilty plea to a significantly reduced charge, which resulted in a two-year sentence. The credits he earned from adhering to the judge’s curfew will more than satisfy this sentence.
It all started late on December 14, 2022, when Wilson, 33, became angry at another driver who almost struck him as he turned onto State Street at 87th, officials said. Wilson honked to get the other driver’s attention and proceeded onto the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway.
Investigators say the driver who almost struck Wilson drove aggressively and sped to catch up with him on the highway. The driver later told police that he heard two pops when he pulled alongside Wilson’s car.
The 41-year-old exited at Marquette Road and found two bullet holes in his rear passenger door, according to an Illinois State Police report. He called the police.
ISP investigators used data from license plate readers and surveillance cameras to identify the vehicle as Wilson’s 2021 Dodge Challenger, prosecutors said in court filings.
Troopers also found surveillance footage of Wilson, who uses a wheelchair, getting into the car with the assistance of another person about eight minutes before the shooting. The assistant put Wilson’s wheelchair into the trunk, and Wilson drove away alone, officials said.
Two days after the shooting, police arrested Wilson, but he declined to answer any questions, leading to his release, according to court records. Months later, a judge signed a nationwide arrest warrant for Wilson. An FBI task force found him outside Tampa and sent him back to Chicago.
Prosecutors originally charged him with aggravated discharge of a firearm. That’s a Class 1 felony, the second-most-serious category. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to a different charge: reckless discharge of a firearm, which is a much less serious Class 4 offense.
Judge Peggy Chiampas handed him a two-year sentence and gave him credit for 449 days of credit he earned by observing a curfew while the charges were pending.
Court records show Wilson was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2018 and unlawful use of a weapon in 2012.
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