Law and Order, Local Police Reports, Park Forest

Chicago Heights Man Stares Down Barrel of Drawn Gun After Allegedly Running from Police


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Police have your back, this one at the Officer Tim Jones Street Dedication, March 19, 2018. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Chicago Heights man found himself staring down the barrel of an officer’s drawn gun after he allegedly ran from police and reached toward his belt a week ago Sunday. It was the judgment of the armed officer that led to an arrest with no shots fired.

Deontai L. Carter, 25, 530 Norma Ave., Chicago Heights, was arrested on December 16 and charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance, resisting/obstructing a peace officer, driving while license was suspended, expired registration, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

An officer traveling north on Lester Road from Sauk Trail behind a black Chevrolet Malibu observed that the registration on the Malibu had expired in November 2018. The officer activated his emergency lights and curbed the vehicle in the 100 block of Lester Road. This was at 10:22 PM, according to the report.

The officer spoke with the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, later identified as Deontai Carter. The officer told Mr. Carter why he had been stopped and asked him for his driver’s license and proof of insurance. Mr. Carter provided the officer with an Illinois identification card and an expired insurance card, according to police. Mr. Carter said that he was on his way to his cousin’s residence on Lester Road.

The officer conducted a LEADS inquiry through SouthCom Dispatch and found that Mr. Carter’s driving privileges were currently suspended. Another officer arrived on the scene to assist.

According to the report, the officer placed his left hand on Mr. Carter’s right arm as he walked. Mr. Carter asked, “What did I do?” The officer informed Mr. Carter that his driving privileges were currently suspended. Mr. Carter then allegedly yanked his arm away from the officers grasp and began to run north on Lester Road, according to police.

The two officers pursued Mr. Carter, the first officer warning Mr. Carter that he was going to get tased and commanded him to stop running. Mr. Carter allegedly continued to run north in the center of the roadway on Lester Road, according to police. The responding officer unholstered his department-issued X26 Taser and pointed it at Mr. Carter’s back. Mr. Carter allegedly continued to run so the officer deployed his Taser device. The probes, however, were unable to penetrate Mr. Carter’s jacket and therefore had no effect, according to police.

Just as the officer deployed his Taser, Mr. Carter allegedly began to reach both of his hands toward his left pants or jacket pocket, according to police. The other officer shouted three times, “Don’t reach!” According to the report, Mr. Carter allegedly ignored this officers commands and continued to reach into his pocket as if he was attempting to remove an item.

The first officer believed that Mr. Carter might be attempting to retrieve a firearm and subsequently dropped his Taser and unholstered his department-issued Glock 22.

As Mr. Carter continued to run north on Lester Road, the officer observed Mr. Carter remove a plastic bag from his left jacket or pants pocket, tear it open, and throw it on the ground, according to police. A white powdery dust was released from the bag as Mr. Carter tore and discarded it, according to police.

Mr. Carter allegedly continued to ignore the officers commands to stop running as he ran east over the sidewalk toward the front door of a residence on Lester Road, according to police. Mr. Carter visibly wrestled with the doorknob in an attempt to enter the residence but the door was locked, according to police.

The first officer pointed his department-issued Glock 22 at Mr. Carter and commanded him to put his hands up. The other officer arrived and, confronted by an officer’s drawn gun, Mr. Carter eventually complied.

Police ordered Mr. Carter to get away from the front door of the residence and onto his knees. He did so and was placed into handcuffs without further incident, according to police.

An officer conducted a custodial search of Mr. Carter’s person and located a Mentos gum container in Mr. Carter’s right jacket pocket, according to police. The officer opened the container and observed that it was filled with plastic bags containing a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis. Mr. Carter did not have a medical cannabis license, according to police.

He was subsequently placed in the rear of a squad vehicle and transported to the Park Forest Police Department. The officers walked south on Lester Road and observed two plastic sandwich bags, each with segments torn off. They found several chunks of a white rock-like substance, suspect crack cocaine, located in the roadway near the sandwich bags. This was the same location that police observed Mr. Carter discard a plastic bag that appeared to contain a white substance, according to police.

Police took photographs at the scene, including the suspect crack cocaine, and Mr. Carter’s vehicle was towed from the scene and impounded per local ordinance.

At the Park Forest Police Department, the substance in the Mentos gum container field-tested positive for the presumptive presence of cannabis. The suspect crack cocaine field-tested positive for the presumptive presence of cocaine, according to police.

After police read Mr. Carter his Miranda Rights, he invoked his right not to speak and was placed in a cell. Mr. Carter remained at the Park Forest Police Department pending transportation to the Markham Courthouse for a mandatory bond hearing, according to police.


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