Cops arrest employee in Lake Co. restaurant shooting

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Thursday his detectives believe they are looking for "a brutal thug" in connection with the shooting of two restaurant workers Sunday night.

Curran said a fingerprint on a glass at The Silo restaurant near Lake Bluff belongs to Charles Knight, 44, an often-convicted felon still wanted in connection with a 2005 armed robbery in Rockford in which a man was killed.

Earlier in the day, police arrested Edward Jackson, 39, a Silo employee from Chicago who they said has admitted to setting up the robbery. Information provided by Jackson indicates Knight fired the shot that injured the two employees, police said.

"We are talking about an incredibly dangerous man, a brutal thug with no regard for human life whatsoever," Curran said of Knight. "If anyone sees him, they should assume he is packing (a gun) and should assume that the worst could happen."

Knight and Jackson have been charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and face up to 30 years in prison, if convicted.

Curran said Jackson, who has done prison time for attempted murder, met Knight when they were at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.

He said detectives found it too coincidental that a suspect they had already identified and an employee of the restaurant had been in prison together. As questioning went on, Jackson confessed to his role in the scheme.

Knight has been convicted of drug charges, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit murder in Cook and Winnebago counties in the past. He has been sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison.

Curran said Knight is still wanted in Rockford for his role in a 2005 shootout between rival drug dealers that left one man dead. The FBI is also looking for Knight in connection with the Rockford slaying.

Police said Jackson provided the motivation for the Silo robbery by telling Knight and another man known to police only as "James" or "Kenny Mack" that they could make as much as $3,000 by robbing The Silo.

Police said Jackson worked at the restaurant Sunday night but had finished his shift and was drinking at the bar when Knight and the other suspect arrived.

Jackson remained at the bar while Knight and the other man dined, police said, and was among the crowd of patrons and employees herded toward a closet when the robbery began.

When one man ran for the back door, Knight is believed to have fired one shot at that man and missed, police said.

The errant bullet struck a 27-year-old male employee in the upper right arm, passed into the back of a 31-year-old male employee and stopped in his abdomen.

The younger employee has been released from the hospital, police said, but his co-worker remains in serious condition.

Knight and the second suspect are believed to have fled the area in a red Ford Taurus they had parked across the street from the restaurant.

Police examined security videotape from inside the restaurant and from the lot the getaway car was parked in as part of their investigation.

They said one of Knight's fingerprints was recovered from a glass he used during his meal at the restaurant, and two witnesses identified his photograph from among six.

Curran said Jackson, of Chicago, is cooperating with the police search for Knight and the other man. He is expected to appear in bond court today.