2 Teens Charged After Chase Of 2 Mercedes Linked To Aurora Carjacking

MORTON GROVE, IL — Two men are accused of fleeing police in stolen cars Monday in Morton Grove, with one charged with a possessing a handgun with a "switch," that converts it to automatic fire. A third suspect remains at large, police said.

Morton Grove police said they were alerted around 6:15 p.m. to the presence of two Mercedes sedans that were wanted "in connection with carjacking incidents in Aurora" by an automated license plate reader, or ALPR, system.

Prosecutors said one, a white E550, had been stolen from him earlier that day at gunpoint by three carjackers. The other, also a white Benz, had been rented a day earlier through a mobile app.

Officers found the two Mercedes in the 6300 block of Dempster Street and both cars fled. One stopped near the intersection of Smithwood Drive and Georgiana Avenue and two people took off running from inside, police said.

One escaped and one was later arrested, according to a police spokesperson.

Police used a drone and at least one police dog and got help from officers from Niles, Skokie, Northbrook and the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Officers later found a gun in the car, police said.

Morton Grove police pulled over the other Mercedes in the 8600 block of Austin Avenue. But it fled again and caused a "significant" crash at the intersection of Austin and Lincoln avenues, according to a department spokesperson.

Keshawn Hawthorne, 19, of the 10000 block of South Forest Avenue, Chicago, and Brandon Williams, 19, of the 300 block of Gramercy Drive, Rockford, made their first appearances in court Wednesday afternoon in Skokie.

Hawthorne has been charged with the class X felony "possession of a machine gun," a conviction for which which carries a minimum prison sentence of six years under the Illinois gun regulations passed in response to the Highland Park mass shooting, the Protect Illinois Communities Act.

Police said he was the driver of the first car and was linked to the gun — a pistol with an extended magazine that had been modified to fire with a single pull of the trigger.

After pulling over the first car, he got into the second stolen Mercedes, which was driven by Williams, according to the spokesperson.

Hawthorne and Williams have also been charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, a non-detainable offense under provisions of the Pretrial Fairness Act that took effect last year.

At the detention hearing, prosecutors said the investigation in the Naperville carjacking remains under investigation, but there is evidence indicating Hawthorne was involved.

Hawthorne's court-appointed attorney said he lives with his mother and works overnight at a grocery story while taking classes to get a commercial driver's license.

Before issuing her ruling, Cook County Circuit Judge Lorraine Murphy cited the county's Public Safety Assessment.

"They didn't describe this offense as being violent," Murphy said, with audible skepticism. "They are suggesting releasing with no conditions."

The judge granted prosecutors petition to deny Hawthorne's pretrial release, citing his danger the community and evidence linking him to the fleeing and the stolen gun.

Murphy said he showed a reckless disregard for the law and for the safety of others.

"[He] never stopped, never stopped fleeing," Murphy said. "The level of fleeing, in two different vehicles and the nature of the weapon involved — I find there are no condition or combination of conditions of pretrial release that can mitigate the real and present threat posed by [Hawthorne.]"

Both Hawthorne and Williams are due back in court March 28 in Skokie.