Bail set for two in Elgin drive-by

Two Elgin teens charged in what police characterize as a gang-related, drive-by shooting on the city's west side, said in bond court Friday that they are not gang members and have never been affiliated with gangs.

Giovanni C. Sandoval, 18, whom police say pulled the trigger in the Monday night shooting that wounded a 15-year-old boy in the left arm, needs $12,000 to get out of jail while the case is pending against him. Kane County Judge Bruce Lester set his bail at $120,000.

“You are accused of shooting a gun in Elgin at someone else and hitting them with a bullet, Lester said before setting the bail. “If the random discharge hit the person in another part of that person's body or someone else, you sir, could have been charged with murder.

Police say Edgar G. Bernal, 19, of the 500 block of Lucille Avenue, was the driver; the judge set his bail at $90,000.

Both teens were charged late Thursday.

Police say the victim was riding his bike with a friend near Clifton Avenue and Erie Street when a car drove by with several people inside.

The people in the car flashed gang signs, hurled insults and flashed a gun, police said in a news release.

According to the news release: the people in the car chased the victim, who was shot with a .32-caliber pistol as he hid behind houses in the 200 block of South Clifton Avenue. The department's gang unit later tracked down the car and found Sandoval and Bernal, police said.

A friend drove the victim to Provena St. Joseph Hospital that night and he was released Wednesday.

Sandoval, of the 1100 block of Concord Drive, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of a firearm by a street gang member and no FOID card.

Bernal was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharged of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school and no FOID card. When he was 15, he was referred to juvenile court for unlawful use of a weapon, prosecutors said.

The school in question was Larkin High School, authorities said.

Both teenagers are scheduled to appear in court on the latest charges Oct. 22 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

The most serious charges aggravated discharge of a firearm and shooting near a school carry a six to 30-year prison term.

Probation is not an option.