Plate Reader Nabs 3 Gunmen, Baby Knocked To Floor In Getaway Bid: Cops

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Three Chicago men driving a stolen Hyundai Elantra are facing multiple felonies after they tried running from Evergreen Park police, prosecutors said. Donald D. Conners III, 25 and 19-year-old Donald G. Connors Jr. appeared May 11 before Cook County Judge Linzie Jones on assorted charges of attempted vehicular hijacking, unlawful use of a weapon, vehicular invasion, criminal trespass to vehicle and resisting police.

The third man, Jamal Moore, 19, was hospitalized for an unspecified condition at OSF-Little Company of Mary Medical Center and did not appear in court. He, too, is facing similar felony charges, according to Evergreen Park police.

The prosecutor clarified for the judge that while two of the defendants shared the same name, they spelled their last names differently.

Just after 8 p.m. on May 9, Evergreen Park police got a plate reader hit off a Hyundai Elantra that had earlier in the week been reported stolen out of Blue Island. The plate reader indicated that the car was heading westbound down 95th Street from Western Avenue before turning into the Walmart parking lot at 9206 S. Western Ave.

The car in question was parked in the Walmart lot. The car’s steering column was peeled back and the rear driver’s side window had been smashed. Officers went into Walmart and obtained video of the parking lot and the front of the store. Security video showed the car being parked in the lot and the driver, later identified as Conners III, getting out of the car, along with back seat passenger Connors Jr. and Moore, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, the prosecutor said.

Store surveillance video showed the three entering the store. The prosecutor said Conners III had a satchel slung across his body as he entered the store, and still had it on moments later when the three left the store. Security video captured the three walking away to another nearby plaza. The prosecutor said when they noticed police watching them, they started to run.

While running from the law, the prosecutor said video captured Moore taking what later turned out to be a gun out of his waistband and throwing it under a nearby car. Conners III and the pair of 19-year-olds ran behind Taqueria Los Comales, where the prosecutor said a man sat waiting in a running orange Saturn, with the man’s 3-month-old baby in the back seat. The prosecutor said that the older of the two Donalds jumped into the driver’s seat, while Moore and Connors Jr. jumped into the back seat. In his haste to get into the back seat, Connors Jr. knocked over the baby in his car seat, according to the charges.

Conners III tried to put the Saturn in drive, but the man leaned over and turned off the car, the prosecutor said. Evergreen Park police officers arrived immediately and took the three in custody.

Officers found a gun in the younger Donald’s waistband that was loaded and uncased, the prosecutor said. Recovered from inside the Saturn was the black crossbody satchel that Conners III appeared to be wearing on the Walmart security video. Officers said they recovered two guns, one which came back as stolen, and two boxes of ammunition, with 100 rounds in each box, the prosecutor said. None of the three had a valid FOID or CCL, the prosecutor said.

Officers walked over to a black Dodge Challenger, where Moore was captured on video throwing away an object from his waistband. Underneath the vehicle, the prosecutor said officers found a loaded gun.

Conners III had two prior felony convictions for possession of a stolen motor vehicle in 2020 for which he was sentenced to one year and time served in the Illinois Department of Corrections; and a 2018 aggravated unlawful use of a weapon where he received probation. A violation of bail bond was filed for a pending armed robbery and aggravated vehicular hijacking case out of Markham.

The judge set bail at $50,000, with sheriff’s electronic home monitoring should he bond out.

Connors Jr. had no prior background. The assistant public defender told the judge that Connors Jr. has worked at Burger King for the past several months. Bail was set at $10,000 and sheriff’s electronic home monitoring.

“They’re going to put a bracelet on you and monitor your movements,” Judge Jones said. “We’ll give you two days a week to move around, other than that you are locked down. If you have a need for a specific movement, you need to notify the deputy sheriff. You move without permission, I’ll lock you up. You’re a young man.”

Moore, who was not present in court, has a felony conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon earlier this year, for which he received two years of probation. The prosecutor filed a violation of probation. Bail was set at $20,000 with sheriff’s electronic home monitoring.

All three are due back in court June 8 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.