Chicago man charged with murder of homeless Elgin man

A 23-year-old Chicago man was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of a homeless man who was hit with a fire extinguisher thrown from atop an Elgin parking deck in August, according to police.

Yancarlo Garcia, of the 1100 block of Lawndale Avenue, is charged with throwing a fire extinguisher at Richard Gibbons shortly after 1:30 a.m. Aug. 11 from the top of the Fulton Street parking deck, police said. Gibbons, 60, was sleeping in an alley below the deck.

Police department spokeswoman Sue Olafson said Gibbons was taken to Provena St. Joseph Hospital with serious injuries to his abdomen and then transferred to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he died Sunday.

The Cook County Coroner’s Office ruled Gibbons’ death a homicide.

“This was a senseless crime of a defenseless man,” Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said in a written statement. “It’s particularly sad when someone decides to randomly harm another who posed no imminent threat to anyone.”

Garcia already was in Cook County Jail on unrelated charges when he became part of the Elgin investigation, Olafson said. He was questioned Sunday.

Garcia was booked back into the jail Monday on felony charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and driving while his license was revoked, according to court records. He appeared Wednesday in Rolling Meadows on those charges. Cook County records list Garcia as 26 with a first name of Yancario, but Elgin police said he has several aliases and gave them the above information.

Once Garcia is released from Cook County Jail, Elgin police will process Garcia’s arrest in the homicide case and he will appear in Kane County bond court.