A 17-year-old arrested following an attempted carjacking in Homewood earlier this month has been released from custody so that he can attend high school.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Donna Cooper, of the Juvenile Division, Friday ordered the release of the teen defendant after his mother brought in proof that he has been enrolled in an area high school. He will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device, restricted to his home after school and report his whereabouts every night, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
The defendant, a minor, was being held at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
At a hearing last Monday at the Markham courthouse, the defendant’s grandmother said she would assume custody of the boy and that he could be enrolled at the school using her address.
The juvenile is charged with attempted armed robbery and attempted vehicular hijacking following the Sept. 10 incident, which occurred about 11 p.m. in the 18600 block of Klimme Avenue. Homewood police said the youth and another suspect attempted to hijack an off-duty police officer’s car at gunpoint. The officer fired a round from his handgun and chased the suspects after they ran away.
Following a search for the suspects, the defendant was apprehended at Millennium Park. The other suspect has not been arrested. Homewood police were assisted by other law enforcement agencies in making the arrest.
At last week’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Clyde Guilamo said that the teen has been implicated in three previous incidents, two of them armed robbery, involving handguns. All took place in 2014. He was also accused of a residential burglary, Guilamo said. He said that the defendant remains a threat to the community and should not be released from the juvenile detention center.
The youth’s court-appointed lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Ashley McKeigue, said the juvenile was not prosecuted for any of the previous incidents cited by Guilamo. She said he has no previous convictions.
Both Guilamo and McKeigue agreed last week that the other carjacking suspect held the gun on the off-duty officer and attempted to open the car door.
According to the state’s attorney’s office, the defendant’s next court hearing in Markham juvenile court was set for Oct. 27.