A judge sentenced a man to seven years in prison after he was captured with an AR-15 rifle following a police chase that ended with a car hitting two buildings in Waukegan.
Travondae K. Hood, 30, of North Chicago, was charged in June 2023 with felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of enhanced aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and obstructing a peace officer.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emma Smoler said officers were on patrol on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Waukegan on June 14, 2023.
They observed a vehicle with heavily tinted windows traveling southbound.
A traffic stop was initiated on the car, which was registered to Hood, Smoler said.
The car fled from officers and went through a red light at 10th Street and McAlister Avenue.
The car lost control and struck two buildings, Smoler said. Two suspects fled from the vehicle.
Officers chased the suspects on foot and one of the suspects jumped over a fence, Smoler said.
A loud bang was heard and officers spotted Hood running westbound through yards.
Smoler said the loud bang was later determined to be Hood tossing a loaded AR-15 rifle into the bed of a parked pickup truck, surveillance video showed.
Officers arrested Hood and transported him to the Lake County Jail.
Hood is a convicted felon who was on parole at the time. He does not have a valid Firearm Owners Identification card or concealed carry license.
Hood was convicted of unlawful vehicular invasion in 2019 for shooting someone during a carjacking in Waukegan in October 2016, court records show.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and was released on parole in December 2022.
Court records show Hood entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office late last month.
He pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm, a Class 2 felony, in exchange for a seven-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He will receive 505 days of credit for time served.
State records show Hood is projected to be paroled in December 2027.