Gun-Wielding Man Enters Neighbor's Home, Threatens To Kill Woman: Cops

EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston man is accused of bringing a gun into his neighbor's home and threatening to kill a woman there.

Andre Laden, 30, of the 1800 block of Lake Avenue, was arrested Sunday and subsequently charged with armed habitual criminal, a class X felony carrying a six-year mandatory minimum sentence, after Evanston police carried out a court-authorized search of his home and found two guns, authorities said.

Laden also faces two counts of felony aggravated assault to a police officer for allegedly threatening to spit on a pair of Evanston cops as they took him into custody and one count of aggravated assault with a firearm, a misdemeanor, for the allegation that he threatened the woman while armed.

Police reported he began "berating the victim regarding slavery and called the victim derogatory names." Laden then went to his upstairs apartment, came downstairs with a gun and entered the kitchen of his neighbor's home.

"[Laden] entered holding what the [woman] described as a black 9 millimeter gun and [Laden] related to [her] that [he] was going to kill her," Assistant State's Attorney Alexandra O'Hehir said at Laden's initial court appearance Tuesday in Skokie.

The woman took off running and called 911, O'Hehir said. When police showed up, he voluntarily exited his home, but when he was being placed in handcuffs, he threatened to spit on two officers, hacking and gathering spit in the back of his throat before officers were able to push his face away, according to the prosecutor.

"Throughout the arrest, [Laden] was belligerent and intoxicated and making a variety of insults toward the officers," O'Hehir said.

Police carried out a court-authorized search of his home and found two guns — a shotgun and an unloaded black 9mm sitting on a table in a bedroom.

According to his defense attorney, Martin Jordan, Laden lives with a family member who is the lawful owner of the two guns found in the apartment.

Jordan said Laden's first conviction for unlawful use of a weapon was for possession of brass knuckles, while his second one was for possession of ammunition.

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In that incident, Evanston detectives executed a search warrant in August 2019 at Laden's house and found one magazine and a plastic baggie with another three rounds.

At the time, police said Laden claimed the ammunition had been left at his home by an acquaintance. His attorney said that warrant was based upon other allegations which did not end up leading to convictions.

Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said Laden's defense attorney raised enough questions about the facts of the case as presented by the prosecution to prompt him to cut his bail amount in half.

Police reported that Laden lived alone, while Jordan said he shared the upstairs unit with a family member.

While police said the woman he is accused of threatening to kill is a romantic partner of his neighbor, Jordan said neither lived at the unit. And while authorities have charged Laden with having possession of at least one of the guns found there, Jordan contended that it was not his bedroom where the pistol was found.

"I have some concerns as to how accurate the law enforcement perception of the circumstances may be based on information presented by Mr. Jordan," Calabrese said.

Laden was ordered jailed until he can come up with the $5,000 cash portion of his bail. He is due back in court Sept. 6 for bond review.

Cash bail is due to be eliminated in Illinois on Sept. 18 and be replaced with an offense-based system where judges will make detention determinations based on charges, risk of flight and threat to individuals or the community.