No bond for man charged with reckless homicide in bus shelter crash
A man charged with reckless homicide after allegedly crashing into a Jeffery Manor bus shelter as he fled police in a stolen SUV was ordered held without bond Tuesday.
About 11:40 a.m. Sunday, an officer pulled over a 2016 Jeep Cherokee near 101st Street and Van Vlissingen Road that had been reported stolen earlier in the day, Cook County prosecutors said. The officer repeatedly told 30-year-old Leon Hearon to shut the Jeep off, but Hearon allegedly refused to comply and sped away from the stop.
Hearon drove through two stop signs before weaving into the opposite lanes of traffic as he continued to drive away from other officers who had been called to assist, prosecutors said. He allegedly swerved back into his own lane to avoid an oncoming truck, lost control of the Jeep and slammed into a bus shelter in the 9800 block of Van Vlissingen Road.
Michael Jordan, who was seated at the bus shelter, was hit by the Jeep when it slammed into the shelter, according to prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Jordan, whose age was not known, suffered multiple injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hearon took off running after the crash but was taken into custody by officers in a yard a few blocks away, prosecutors said. The keys to the Jeep were found inside Hearon’s pocket.
Police dash and body-worn cameras captured the entire pursuit and data recovered from the Jeep showed it was traveling 88 mph just before the crash, prosecutors said.
Two passengers in the Jeep, Riley Holmes III, 48, and Sasha Viverette, 32, were also charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Hearon had two active warrants for his arrest at the time of the crash, prosecutors said. The first warrant was issued June 25 when Hearon didn’t show up for a status hearing on a charge of failure to register as a sex offender. A second warrant was issued for escape when authorities determined he violated the terms of his release on electronic monitoring.
Hearon was not wearing an ankle monitor when he was taken into custody, prosecutors said.
Judge Mary Marubio cited Hearon’s history of failing to show up for court appearances and for violating his electronic monitoring in her decision to order him held without bond.
Hearon also faces a felony count of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and several misdemeanor charges.
Hearon is scheduled to be back in court July 22.