12-Year-Sentence for Man Chased Down with Loaded Gun in Evanston

A man whom Evanston police chased down with a loaded handgun last year has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for being an armed habitual criminal, according to the Evanston Police Department.

Blair Aikens, 28, of Skokie, was found guilty last month in a jury trial and sentenced Friday. He is required to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence due to its seriousness, police said.

Aikens was arrested with Antoine Hill, in July 2013. At the time, Hill had recently been released on parole for the murder of an Evanston man at the Keg in 2005, while Aikens was wanted on a Pennsylvania narcotics warrant. Aikens was also convicted of delivery of a controlled substance, a felony, in 2007.

“When you’ve got two guys carrying guns, one of those guys is wanted on a warrant, the other guy’s on parole for murder--our estimation is that those individuals are going to use those firearms,” said Evanston Cmdr. Jason Parrott at the time. “They had something planned, we don’t know what.”

Hill is awaiting trial, police said.

You can read the article about the men’s arrest here.