The man who was driving a hijacked car when his passenger opened fire on Chicago police officers in the Loop, prompting officers to shoot the gunman, is back in jail after prosecutors said CPD officers saw him pointing a gun at someone outside a North Side bar last weekend.
Noel Centeno, 24, was AWOL from a pending gun case at the time of the January 2022 shootout with Chicago police at Lower Wacker Drive and Columbus Drive that ended with his passenger, Edgardo Perez, receiving a 40-year prison sentence. Centeno, who prosecutors said was unarmed during the Loop incident, received a four-year sentence.
But prosecutors now say Centeno did have a gun around 11:12 p.m. Saturday in the 2700 block of West Devon Avenue. CPD officers monitoring a surveillance camera allegedly saw Centeno point a firearm at another person, described in a police report as his “friend,” before putting the weapon away.
When patrol officers arrived, they saw Centeno walk into Casey’s Corner, 2733 West Devon Avenue, so they entered the bar and removed him from the premises, according to the report. Officers did not find a gun on him. Police then returned inside the tavern and found a loaded 9-millimeter pistol inside a microwave near the front door, not far from where Centeno had been detained, the report said.
Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Centeno held pending trial, noting that he has seven felony convictions over the past nine years, along with juvenile adjudications for four armed robberies.
Back in 2022, CPD said Centeno denied that he carjacked the vehicle that he and his friends were riding in at the time of the shooting. Rather, he allegedly claimed he found the vehicle on Howard Street with the keys inside.
