Sheriff: Man charged with attempted murder in 2022 Maine Twp. shooting

Bail was set at $500,000 Saturday for a Chicago man accused of shooting a woman during a road rage episode last year in an unincorporated area of Maine Township, Cook County sheriff's officials said.

Juan M. Contreras, 37, is charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder, one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

At about 11:55 p.m. on May 22, 2022, sheriff's police were called to the 8800 block of West Golf Road, where they met a 19-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, who had been shot in the leg.

Sheriff's police detectives learned that the driver of another vehicle pulled out a gun and fired a shot at the another vehicle during a traffic altercation that began in a gas station parking lot in the 9200 block of Golf Road in unincorporated Maine Township, authorities said.

Detectives later identified the driver as Contreras, the sheriff's office said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Contreras on May 30, 2022. On May 9, 2023, a federal arrest warrant for an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was approved by a federal judge.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents located Contreras in Lewisburg, Tennessee, on June 8, and took him into custody without incident.

After waiving extradition, Contreras returned to Cook County Friday. The Cook state's attorney's office approved the charges against Contreras later that day.