Deral Willis made a splash on CWBChicago in 2023 when he tried to elude Chicago police by tossing a machine gun into the Chicago River from the State Street Bridge. Unfortunately for him, a Chicago Police Marine Unit diver recovered the weapon. Willis was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison in October, but he was paroled in May.
Now, in a case of déjà vu, the 33-year-old is back in custody on a parole violation after prosecutors say he ran from police with a machine gun and tried to get rid of it by tossing it into a dumpster, just two blocks from the State Street Bridge. At least the cops didn’t need dive gear this time.
Shortly after 1 p.m. on July 29, a CPD surveillance camera operator alerted patrol officers to a suspected drug deal near State and Grand in River North. Officers went to the area and saw Willis, who matched the description provided by the camera operator, according to a detention filing. The description included a yellow Pikachu backpack, the filing said.
When Willis saw the officers, he took off running. Police chased him into an alley, where officers saw him throw the Pikachu backpack into a dumpster, prosecutors said. Officers recovered the backpack and arrested Willis in a nearby parking garage, according to the filing.
Inside the backpack, prosecutors said, officers found a loaded handgun equipped with a “Glock switch,” a device that can allow a semiautomatic firearm to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger. Police also obtained surveillance video that showed Willis throwing the backpack into the dumpster, according to the filing.
The allegations come less than three months after Willis was released from prison following his 2023 arrest. In that case, Willis tried to evade police by throwing a machine gun into the Chicago River from the State Street Bridge. A CPD marine unit diver recovered the weapon, and Willis was later convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.
Prosecutors said Willis has several other felony convictions, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in 2016, armed robbery convictions in 2016 and 2011, and an aggravated robbery conviction in 2011.
Judge Antara Rivera granted prosecutors’ request to detain Willis, and the state has revoked his parole. He is currently back in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, with a new parole date set for October 7.
He’s charged with being a felon in possession of a machine gun and possession of a firearm by a repeat felon.
