City Cameras Cause Capture Of Evanston Man Charged Over Stolen Gun

EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston man is accused of running away from police with a stolen gun and injuring one of the officers who took him into custody.

Jeilin Harris-Thomas, 23, faces two felonies — aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and resisting arrest causing injury — and two misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a weapon following his arrest, authorities said.

Harris-Thomas was arrested after Evanston police were dispatched to the area of Twiggs Park shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday, prosecutors said the following day at his initial court appearance in Skokie.

Officers monitoring live feeds from city-owned video cameras watched a group of people drinking and smoking, according to Assistant State's Attorney Alexandra O'Hehir.

"Evanston cameras captured [Harris-Thomas] loitering in front of a vehicle," O'Hehir said.

Before police arrived at the scene, officers watching the surveillance video feed in the 1700 block of Payne Street also noticed someone else in the group had a gun tucked in a waistband, according to police and prosecutors.

"Upon arrival, they activated their lights to conduct the stop and [Harris-Thomas,] along with an unknown individual, clutched their waistband and took off running," she said.

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A loaded pistol fell out of Harris-Thomas' pants while he fled, police reported. Authorities later determined the Sig Sauer P320 had been stolen from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, according to O'Hehir.

An Evanston detective suffered cuts to his arm and bruises from a home's fence as Harris-Thomas resisted being taken into custody, the prosecutor said.

Harris-Thomas is an Evanston Township High School graduate who worked, until recently, at a Vernon Hills meatpacking plant, according to his defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender Vanessa Ficaro.

According to court officials, he has a single felony conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, which resulted in a sentence of two years of probation.

Harris-Thomas picked up the previous gun charge while being sought in connection with a Skokie home invasion, according to a 2018 Evanston Patch report. Detectives were watching him as he got into a ride-hailing vehicle while carrying an illegal gun, police said at the time.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said it appears authorities have strong evidence to support Harris-Thomas' latest gun charge, if footage from police body-worn cameras back up the account provided by prosecutors.

"In this case, we have a defendant who has a previous felony conviction for the very same offense that he's alleged to have convicted here," Calabrese said at Harris-Thomas' bond hearing.

"In this dangerous time, given the nature of the allegations against [Harris-Thomas], where's he's armed, having been previously convicted of this same style of offense, I think the appropriate bond is in the amount of $75,000-D," Calabrese said, "[Harris-Thomas] would have to post $7,500 to be out on bond."

Harris-Thomas is the second man to be charged with a felony in connection with an injury to an Evanston police officer this week.

Brandon Clark, 34, of the 7200 block of North Western Avenue, Chicago, was arrested at the Skokie Courthouse on Monday morning by Evanston police officers after a misdemeanor charge was upgraded to a felony aggravated battery to a police officer in connection with a September 2021 incident.

Authorities said Clark pushed an officer into an open car door, injuring her shoulder — requiring surgery to her rotator cuff — during a disagreement that occurred during a balloon release ceremony held in commemoration of 21-year-old Stanley Butler III, who was shot and killed in his house earlier that month.

A Waukegan man was charged with the killing, but his accomplices have not.

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