Bail set at $200,000 for parolee after grandfather fends off carjacking in Naperville
Bail was set at $200,000 for a 24-year-old Mundelein parolee accused of attempting to steal another man's car at gunpoint while the driver's grandson was inside Friday afternoon in Naperville.
Anton Cross, of the 26200 block of North Walnut Avenue, is charged with three felony counts of attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Cross, formerly of Elgin, is on parole after he was convicted in March 2021 for second-degree murder in a December 2016 case, in which he shot and killed an 18-year-old Elgin man and Bartlett High School student with whom he was said to be having an ongoing dispute. He was 17 at the time. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison; he was in Kane County jail before the conviction, since August 2018, sent to the Pinckneyville Correctional Center in July 2021, then released on parole on Jan. 30 this year. His parole expires Jan. 30, 2024.
The DuPage County state's attorney's office said Saturday that Naperville police responded to a call of an attempted carjacking at 12:13 p.m. Friday on the 1300 block of McDowell Road.
Cross had approached the driver while the driver was putting his grandson in the car, and Cross asked for directions, authorities said. The driver gave them, then Cross pulled out a gun and demanded the keys, authorities said. When the driver refused, Cross fled.
No one was injured.
About 40 minutes later, someone called 911 about a suspicious man hiding in the bushes near Hinterlong Lane, about a mile and a half away from the carjacking location. Officers responded and identified the man as Cross, authorities said.
During the chase, a loaded Glock handgun fell from Cross' pocket, authorities said. He was taken into custody afterward.
"I commend the concerned citizen for calling 9-1-1 when they suspected something wasn't right," State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.
In the 2016 murder case, Cross was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the judge found that Cross acted out of an unreasonable belief he faced death or imminent danger when he shot Jones in the abdomen and found him guilty of the lesser charge, which carried a sentence of between four and 20 years in prison.