Bail was denied Sunday for a 20-year-old man who allegedly shot one motorist and threatened another during a series of armed carjackings this month on the same block in West Englewood.
Jamari Edwards, who lives in the neighborhood, faces felony counts of aggravated battery and vehicular hijacking in connection to three carjackings that happened over eight days in the 7100 block of South Ashland Avenue, according to Chicago police and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
During his initial court hearing Sunday, prosecutors said Edwards first targeted a 28-year-old man on Aug. 6 at a Dunkin Donuts at 7119 S. Ashland Ave.
Surveillance footage showed Edwards point a gun through the man’s passenger’s side window, prosecutors said. After ordering the man out of the car, Edwards asked why he wasn’t scared and then smirked before firing a single shot that struck his left leg.
The man tried to call 911 as Edward drove off, but his cellphone was still connected to the car, prosecutors said. Edwards then stopped, took the man’s phone and wallet and drove off.
On Aug. 8, Edwards pointed a handgun at a 49-year-old man who was leaving the Falcon Fuel gas station at 7902 S. Ashland Ave., prosecutors said. After rifling through the man’s pockets and taking his phone, wallet and keys, Edwards took off in his car.
Edwards later returned to the same gas station on Aug. 13, when he and another person approached a 30-year-old woman sitting in a running vehicle, prosecutors said. Edwards placed a gun to the woman’s head as the other person, who hasn’t been identified, hopped into the passenger seat and took her belongings.
“Get out of the car before I blow your brains out,” Edwards allegedly said while telling her to get out.
As the woman tried to follow his orders, Edwards grabbed her by the collar and pulled her out, prosecutors said. He then jumped in the vehicle and fled.
Edwards was eventually arrested on Friday in an alley in the 1700 block of West 69th Street, according to a police report.
Prosecutors said the phone he stole from the first victim pinged at his home, and the third victim identified him in a photo array. Edwards also admitted to the second carjacking and identified himself in photos taken from surveillance video, prosecutors said.
As a juvenile, Edwards was convicted of burglary, retail theft and illegal gun possession.
Judge Kelly Marie McCarthy ordered him held without bail on Sunday. His next court date was set for Aug. 29.
