A 23-year-old man was denied bail Sunday after prosecutors tied him to two shootings earlier this month, one leaving a man wounded during an armed robbery.
Jerome Powell was on probation for a burglary conviction and out on bail for a felony gun case when he took part in the two shootings, the first occurring late July 14 in the 200 block of West 23rd Street in Chinatown, authorities said during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
Powell, of the Trumbull Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, faces armed robbery charges for both incidents, as well as aggravated battery. Judge Arthur Wesley Willis approved a request to hold Powell without bail for both attacks, as well as two petitions requesting no bail for violating the terms of his probation and his release on bail.
Authorities said Powell was one of four males who exited a Dodge Durango and surrounded an Acura SUV where two men were sitting just before 11:30 p.m.
Armed with a silver handgun, Powell is accused of opening the passenger door and demanding money, but neither victim could understand the commands as both only spoke Mandarin, prosecutors said.
After his accomplices rifled through the victims’ pockets and took items, Powell allegedly fired a shot toward one of the men, striking one in the hand. The four assailants returned to the Dodge and sped away.
About 45 minutes later, Powell’s group allegedly accosted a woman trying to withdraw money at a drive-thru ATM on East 95th Street. Powell is accused of ordering the woman to open her driver’s side door, but she was too close to the machine to open it, according to prosecutors. When the woman reversed her vehicle to comply with the request, Powell allegedly fired a shot that exited the dashboard, shattering glass.
The group then fled, leaving behind the Chinatown victim’s wallet, authorities said. The woman wasn’t injured in the shooting.
Both attacks were captured on surveillance camera, including a dashcam in the Chinatown victim’s SUV, authorities.
Following his arrest late last week, Powell admitted to firing his gun in both attacks, claiming he fired to scare the Chinatown victim and to get the second woman to stop her vehicle, prosecutors said.
Powell’s court-appointed attorney asked the judge to preserve the video evidence and tried to cast doubt on the identification, noting that his alleged accomplices were wearing similar-color clothing.
But Willis, citing the surveillance and Powell’s confession, ordered him held as a danger to the community.
Community members in Chinatown have expressed concern about crime targeting immigrants, who are seen as easy targets for bandits.
Powell is scheduled to return to court next month.
Italian Americans gather in Little Italy to demand Christopher Columbus statues be put back
36m
8 dead, at least 51 injured in shootings since Friday afternoon
3h
Elite Street Highland Park mansion that once had a $12 million price tag sells for $1.5 million
Jul 23, 2021
Coronavirus Chicago native Joseph Mercola the most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online, researchers say
1h
Olympics How triathlete Kevin McDowell of Geneva beat cancer on his journey to the Tokyo Olympics: ‘There was a lot of hard stuff in between and he wants people to know that’
8:29 AM