A Waukegan man, who is on parole for a shooting, has been charged after prosecutors say he engaged in a shootout that left a juvenile wounded in North Chicago.
Dallas E. Nesbitt, 21, of Waukegan, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm and three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
The North Chicago Police Department responded around 3 p.m. on September 14 to the 1300 block of Victoria Avenue for a report of a shooting.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said officers received a ShotSpotter alert for 13 rounds fired. Numerous 911 calls were also received.
Officers arrived and found numerous shell casings in the street and a blood trail.
Officers located a juvenile victim who was shot in the leg, McConnell said. They applied a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.
The victim’s shin bone had been shattered due to the wound.
The North Chicago Fire Department responded and transported the juvenile to a local hospital for treatment.
Video surveillance showed Nesbitt shooting multiple rounds from a gun before someone returned fire, McConnell said.
Nesbitt was shot in the elbow and ran into the backyard of a residence.
McConnell said officers found two guns in a grill behind the residence.
Prosecutors did not say whether the juvenile victim was involved in the shootout or just a bystander.
Staff with Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan soon after notified police that Nesbitt had walked in at their hospital with a gunshot wound. Nesbitt tested positive for gunshot residue, McConnell said.
Officers learned Nesbitt had been dropped off at the hospital in a stolen vehicle, which is connected to at least three shootings in North Chicago and Waukegan.
Nesbitt was later released and transported to the Lake County Jail after being charged.
McConnell said Nesbitt was recently released from a two-year prison sentence after being convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a case where he was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle in Lake County.
While on parole in the case, Nesbitt was recently charged in Cook County for allegedly strangling his girlfriend. Nesbitt also has a juvenile criminal history of armed robbery and aggravated battery.
McConnell said Nesbitt’s most recent arrest is Nesbitt’s fifth gun case since 2019.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted a petition filed by prosecutors to detain Nesbitt pending trial.
The judge said Nesbitt is a real and present threat and is “inherently dangerous” to the community. “He’s as dangerous as they come… at least at this young age from what the court’s seen.”