No bail for Prospect Hts. teen charged with attempted murder, armed robbery

A Prospect Heights teen who prosecutors say shot a convenience store owner several times during an armed robbery, then kicked him after he fell to the floor, was ordered held without bail Friday in Rolling Meadows.

Alfredo Medina, 16, is charged as an adult in the Aug. 31 attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and armed robbery of a 68-year-old man at his store on the 0-100 block of Wolf Road in Prospect Heights.

Medina, who prosecutors say has a pending juvenile charge, is also charged with aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting an officer, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of ammunition.

"I do believe the defendant is a real and present threat to the safety of the victim and the community at large," said Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie.

"By sheer luck, a victim who was shot at three times, struck twice, survived," she said.

Prosecutors say Medina carried a loaded, semi-automatic hand gun and wore a black hoodie, black ski mask, "distinctive pink gloves" and black running shoes with silver medallions on the tongues when he and a 15-year-old co-offender entered the store about 2:40 a.m. The co-offender was wearing a black sweatshirt and a blue bandanna covering his face, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Mary McMahon.

Medina held the gun on the owner while both teens shouted at him to open the cash register, McMahon said. When the man resisted, the 15-year-old punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor, McMahon said.

While the co-offender took tobacco and vape products, Medina circled around the counter to the victim who regained his footing and swung at the 15-year-old with a pole, she said.

Medina fired three shots, McMahon said. One struck the entry door shattering the glass. Other shots struck the man in the left chest and right thigh.

After the store owner collapsed, Medina kicked him, McMahon said.

The store owner suffered a broken femur, which required surgery, and he underwent "extensive surgery to his abdomen," McMahon said.

Unable to open the cash register, the co-offender dumped the tobacco products and fled, McMahon said. As he glanced back toward the store, his bandanna slipped revealing his face, she said.

Medina removed something from the drink counter and fled, McMahon said. Video surveillance captured the attack, she added.

Police responding to the man's 911 call used a dog team to track the teens to a nearby apartment complex along Old Willow Road, near where they live, she said.

Police bulletins containing video images resulted in an anonymous tip that led police to the 15-year-old's home, where police learned the teens had recently robbed another teen, McMahon said. The co-offender identified Medina as the convenience store shooter, McMahon said.

Searching Medina's home Oct. 28, police recovered suspect cocaine; loose .22 caliber ammunition (which did not match fired cartridges found at the shooting scene), pink gloves, black shoes with silver medallions, she said. The left shoe medallion had what appeared to be blood smeared across it, she said.

Arrested Oct. 28 at his school, Medina refused to enter the squad car and kicked a Mount Prospect officer, she said.

Objecting to prosecutors' no-bail request, Assistant Cook County Public Defender Calvin Aguilar said bullet shells from the scene don't match those found at his client's home. No fingerprints link his client to the scene and the store owner did not identify Medina as his attacker, Aguilar said.

"The only thing incriminating him (Medina) is his co-defendant's statement given to police officers," Aguilar said.

Medina will next appear in court Nov. 13.