Wheeling man charged in road-rage incident to remain in custody

A Wheeling man charged in connection with a road-rage incident last week in Mount Prospect will remain in the Cook County jail while his case is pending, a judge ruled Wednesday.

“(His) inability to control his anger, his reckless disregard for other cars, pedestrians and the victims by his erratic, volatile driving, shows that this defendant is a danger to the victim and the community,” Cook County Judge Andreana Turano said of defendant Edwin C. Laguna, while granting prosecutors’ petition to detain him while he’s awaiting trial.

Laguna, 38, of the 300 block of Highland Avenue, is charged with armed violence, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, aggravated assault using a deadly weapon, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance stemming from the March 22 confrontation, police said.

His arrest came after two teens arrived at the Mount Prospect police station at about 4 p.m. March 22, to report passengers in a jeep had been following them for about 7 miles, while driving aggressively, almost striking them several times and pointing what appeared to be a gun at them, police said.

Officers used license plate readers to identify a jeep matching the teens’ description and located it in the 1100 block of Boxwood Drive in Mount Prospect. Officers found the vehicle still running with Laguna in the driver’s seat, county prosecutors said.

Officers found a revolver under a seat and 7.5 grams of a white powdery substance thought to be cocaine in the glove box, authorities said.

According to prosecutors, Laguna also has pending possession of a controlled substance and criminal damage to property charges in Lake County and has previous convictions for driving under the influence and possession of controlled substance.

Noting his pending felonies and multiple prior convictions, prosecutors argued Laguna poses “a real and present threat to the safety” of the community and “no combination of conditions” can mitigate the risk.

Laguna’s attorney argued for pretrial release, referencing his client’s life-threatening liver condition for which he was hospitalized for seven days prior to Wednesday’s court appearance. The attorney also noted that the weapon police recovered from his vehicle was not loaded and Laguna had no drugs or alcohol in his system.

Laguna’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 17.