A couple was charged Tuesday in connection with a shooting near a Hammond gas station.
Ezra Polk, 19, of Chicago, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony, criminal recklessness, a Level 5 felony, and unlawful carrying of a handgun, a Level 5 felony.
His girlfriend, the driver, Kynedi Barthelemy, 20, of Maywood, Illinois, was charged with assisting a criminal, a Level 6 felony. Neither is in custody. Polk is ordered held on a $5,500 cash bond, while Barthelemy is ordered held without bail.
A third male was with them, according to court documents. His identity appears unknown. He is not named or formally charged, according to court filings.
Hammond Police responded just before 9 p.m. Nov. 4 to the 400 block of Gostlin Street.
A witness told officers she had just pulled out of a Citgo gas station and was waiting at the light on Gostlin Street at Hohman Avenue when shots rang out.
Bullets pierced her left front tire and back bumper. She was not hurt and does not appear to have been targeted.
Security footage showed while the woman was gassing up minutes earlier, a gray Saturn Ion pulled into the gas station. Two men got out and went inside. When they returned, one male appeared to pull out a gun from his waist, before putting it on his lap.
While the woman waited at the light, a black Lexus pulled behind her. One man on the passenger side appeared to open the door, get partly out, then look toward the Saturn.
Shots rang out from the Saturn, shattering the Lexus’ passenger window and side mirror. The man jumps back in the Lexus and it takes off west on Gostlin Street to Illinois.
The Saturn leaves east on Gostlin.
Police traced the Saturn from a license plate reader to Barthelemy, learning through her Instagram account that Polk was her boyfriend. Police matched social media pictures to the gas station’s security footage.
Court records show Polk served nine months in Cook County in November 2022 for involuntary manslaughter.
mcolias@post-trib.com
