COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The parolee who shot at Chicago Police officers from inside a stolen SUV Tuesday was hoping to use the vehicle in a drive-by shooting later that night, prosecutors said.
Charles Lawson, 24, is accused of stealing a 2013 Dodge Journey from a 57-year-old woman who'd been listening to an audio book inside the car near 96th and Wallace streets about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.
When police tried to stop Lawson about 10 p.m., he led officers on a Far South Side chase — eventually shooting at police on multiple occasions, grazing a 35-year-old officer in his jaw, prosecutors said.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas denied Lawson bail Thursday, noting that he's accused of "firing not once, not twice, but three times on separate occasions."
Lawson is currently on parole for armed robbery and attempted robbery. He was sentenced in 2012 to seven-and-a-half years in prison, and was released on parole in April 2015.
According to prosecutors, the chain of events that led to Tuesday's shooting started about 9:45 p.m. when Lawson and an unknown accomplice stole a black Dodge Journey from the 57-year-old woman.
While listening to her audiobook, the woman noticed smudges on the rear driver's side passenger window of her SUV, Assistant State's Attorney Guy Lisuzzo said during a bond hearing Thursday.
As the woman stepped out of the car to clean the smudges, she noticed Lawson's accomplice walking toward her, prosecutors said. The accomplice, who has not yet been arrested, pulled a gun, grabbed the woman by the front of her dress and slammed her into the car, Lisuzzo said.
That's when the accomplice demanded the woman give him her car, according to prosecutors.
The woman turned back toward her car — which she had left running — and realized Lawson had climbed into the driver's seat, Lisuzzo said. Lawson began to drive away, knocking the woman to the ground.
At that point, the accomplice got into the passenger side of a waiting car near 96th and Wallace streets, Lisuzzo said.
Lawson would later tell police he stole the SUV so he could use it in a retaliatory drive-by shooting against rival gang members who shot one of his relatives, according to Lisuzzo.
The woman called 911, and police spotted the car near 100th Street and Eggleston Avenue about 10 p.m. Officers in a marked squad car turned on their lights and sirens, prosecutors said, and Lawson sped away — running several red lights in the process.
Officers in a second squad car spotted the chase near 103rd Street and Michigan Avenue, Lisuzzo said, and soon joined in.
A few blocks away, near 102nd Street and Eggleston Avenue, Lawson is accused of reaching out of the window and firing a shot at the officers. A bullet struck the bumper of the first squad car, prosecutors said.
Lawson began heading east on 100th Street, where he once more fired shots toward the police cars, both of which were still following him, according to authorities. A bullet went through the driver's side window of the first squad car — grazing the 35-year-old officer in his jaw, prosecutors said.
The driver pulled over, and the second squad car continued the chase, Lisuzzo said. The driver did not sustain any life-threatening injuries, officials have said.
Lawson fired shots toward police for the third time near 100th Street and Dauphin Avenue, according to authorities. Police returned fire, and Lawson crashed into a parked car in the 10000 block of South Dauphin Avenue, prosecutors said.
Lawson threw his gun (a 9mm Beretta) out of the driver's side window, exited the car and got down on the ground, Lisuzzo noted. Lawson would later confess to stealing the 57-year-old woman's SUV and shooting at police. The chase and shootings were captured on dashboard cameras.
Police found four fired shell casings inside the Dodge Journey, as well as a loaded extended magazine that can hold 30 live rounds, Lisuzzo said.
Lawson, of the 10700 block of South Wentworth Avenue, is charged with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated vehicular hijacking, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing and alluding.
According to his public defender, Lawson is engaged with a baby on the way; he has a job rehabbing houses.
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