COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An armed man chased a mailman around a mail truck in West Ridge last week following a traffic incident, prosecutors said.
It all started about 10 a.m. Thursday when Stephen Casica, 43, believed he saw a U. S. Postal Service truck roll through a stop sign near his home at Damen and Arthur avenues, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing.
Casica and his dog followed the truck to the 6600 block of North Damen Avenue, where Casica confronted the 32-year-old driver — who, at this point, was outside with a mail cart, prosecutors said.
The men argued, Scaduto said, and the fight turned physical when Casica kicked a mail cart into the mailman.
At that point, prosecutors said, Casica pointed a 9 mm handgun loaded with six live rounds toward the mailman, who backed away with his hands in the air.
Scaduto said Casica threatened to shoot the mailman.
Instead, Casica chased the mailman around the truck before heading home with his dog.
A witness pointed police to the 2000 block of West Arthur Avenue, where Casica walked toward officers with his hands up and said, "I was the one who did it," according to an arrest report.
Police said Casica admitted to pointing a gun at the mailman and kicking a mail cart into the man's leg. Casica has an firearm owners ID card, records show, but no concealed-carry license.
Casica is charged with battery, unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and violating the conceal-carried act.
"This is a gun out there on the streets of Chicago with everything else going on in this city," Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil said during a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave., before setting bail at $50,000.
