Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of a gold Chevrolet Impala they claimed was used in a road rage shooting incident in Frankfort.
Antoine Berry Jr., 21, of Calumet City has been indicted on charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the June 9 incident.
If a judge allows the forfeiture, the Chevrolet that Berry is accused of using in the incident either will be sold at a public auction, destroyed or delivered to a law enforcement agency.
The forfeiture complaint from the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office included police reports of the events that led to Berry’s arrest and the seizure of his vehicle.
On June 9, Frankfort police responded to a report of a “road rage incident leading to shots fired,” prosecutors said.
Officers met with the driver and passenger of a Dodge pickup truck, who told police they were traveling south on La Grange Road near Colorado Avenue before the incident began, prosecutors said. The lanes in the area were reduced because of ongoing construction.
The pickup truck driver told police that he let one vehicle merge in front of him but not the Chevrolet Impala driven by the suspect, prosecutors said. The truck driver told police the Chevrolet then closely followed the pickup truck after the merging and said both drivers were exchanged middle finger signals at one point.
The pickup truck driver told police that when he turned into a store parking lot, he heard a loud bang and saw the offending vehicle travel at a very high rate of speed westbound down Lincoln Highway.
“At that time, both he and his passenger knew that they had just been shot at and followed the offending vehicle to obtain the license plate,” prosecutors said.
Police reported seeing a bullet hole in the camper top of the pickup truck. Detectives later tracked the suspect to Dolton and found a spent shell casing in his left pocket, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the Chevrolet because it “transported an occupant as well as the firearm used to and from the location of the reckless discharge and aggravated battery,” according to the complaint.