CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a man with a hate crime, saying he followed a woman and then yelled anti-Mexican and anti-Venezuelan phrases at her boyfriend before trying to run him over with his car.
Chicago police arrested Levell Carter, 39, this week to face charges in the November 15 incident, which occurred near the couple’s home in the 3900 block of West Roosevelt.
In a detention petition, prosecutors said a 43-year-old woman was walking home from a nearby gas station when Carter began following her, so she called her boyfriend to tell him about it. The 39-year-old boyfriend came outside to talk to Carter.
Carter allegedly complained about Venezuelans “getting the money” and launched into an anti-Mexican rant. The petition said he yelled:
- “You f****** Mexican, I am going to come and blow your house down.”
- “Go back to your country, you f****** Mexican.”
- “I’m going to come back to kill these m*****f****** Mexicans.”
As the boyfriend turned to go back inside, Carter directed his vehicle toward the man, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck, prosecutors alleged. Officials said that a surveillance camera captured Carter’s license plate.
Judge David Kelly granted the state’s detention petition, saying, “hate is the only reason [Carter] committed the offense.” Kelly also pointed to Carter’s violent crime history. Court records show that he received a 7-year sentence for shooting a victim on the West Side in 2008. He received three years for carjacking a driver in Oak Park in 2021.
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