CHICAGO — “Wasn’t me.”
That’s what Cross Banks muttered as he was led out of Courtroom 100 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse shortly after prosecutors charged him with carjacking a woman on the Northwest Side. In the two years since that hearing, Banks changed his mind. On Friday, he pleaded guilty and received an 11-year prison sentence.
“How do you all know that was me?” Banks asked before being led from the courtroom on that chilly December morning in 2022. “Can you all see my face?”
In fact, prosecutors said, video surveillance showed Banks, 20, committing the carjacking and then trying to get its flat tire repaired about 30 minutes later. He was wearing the same clothing and sporting the same multi-colored underwear in both videos.
The victim had just parked her 2018 Mercedes outside a Martin’s Supermarket, 5155 West Addison, when Banks ran up to her with what appeared to be an assault rifle. Prosecutors said he grabbed the woman and forced her against the Mercedes while demanding her keys.
Less than an hour later, the woman’s Mercedes rolled up to a mechanic shop in the 1200 block of North Pulaski with a blown tire. While Banks was asking the shop to repair the vehicle, Chicago cops spotted the Mercedes, realized it had just been carjacked, and called for backup.
Banks ran away as police approached, but he didn’t get far. Cops said he had the woman’s key fob and credit cards in his pockets. They found a 23-inch black plastic Airsoft rifle inside the car.
In addition to wearing the same underwear and other clothing as the hijacker, Banks was also wearing one latex glove, just like the hijacker, prosecutors said.
On Friday, Banks pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular hijacking in exchange for the 11-year sentence from Judge Aleksandra Gillespie. The sentence will be cut by 50% for good behavior and offset by another 821 days of credit that Banks earned while awaiting trial.
