Chicago man charged with gunning down Elk Grove Twp. man

Police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of an Elk Grove Township man earlier this month in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Patrick Cregan, 35, was shot in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, minutes after another man was gunned down just blocks away.

Ricardo Marchan, 24, of the 4000 block of West Grand Avenue, was charged Sunday with two counts of first degree murder for the shooting of Cregan, as well as the killing of 18-year-old Michael Hernandez, of the 500 block of North Wood Street.

Police said Marchan was already in custody after he was charged Aug. 2 with two counts of armed robbery. District 25 officers responded to the call of the in-progress robbery about 20 minutes after the murders. Assembling evidence from all three crime scenes, police linked the weapon and offender to the murders.

Marchan's first victim was Hernandez, police said. He was shot multiple times in the head and torso as he sat in his vehicle in the 1500 block of North Western Avenue around 4:10 a.m.

Three minutes later, Marchan fired several shots in the 1400 block of North California Avenue, striking Cregan in the head as he was driving his car. Cregan's vehicle came to rest against a fence.

Police said that 20 minutes later Marchan held up two men walking in the 3800 block of West Dickens Avenue. Marchan left his vehicle with his weapon, a rifle, and demanded the victims' property after firing several rounds into the air.

Officers who arrived on the scene took Marchan into custody and recovered the victims' property and Marchan's weapon.

Cregan lived in the Willoway Terrace trailer park in unincorporated Elk Grove Township just outside Arlington Heights. According to his uncle, Jim Cregan, Patrick Cregan was unmarried but had a son.

Family members said Cregan was likely delivering pizzas when he was shot and killed. Jim Cregan said his nephew was straightening his life out and working as a deliveryman for a pizza shop that stays open until 5 a.m. Jim Cregan said he heard his nephew had only just delivered a pizza to an address a block away from the murder scene.

Police said the motive for the murders remains undetermined, although one published report said Marchan was upset over breaking up with his girlfriend.