Man charged in Dolton shooting outside Auto Zone was on electronic monitoring awaiting murder trial

DOLTON, Ill. (WLS) -- The Cook County Sheriff's Office said a man who was on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial on murder charges has now been charged in a Dolton shootout that injured 4 outside an Auto Zone last week.

Last Wednesday, Dolton police responded to the Auto Zone parking lot in the 1100 block of Sibley Boulevard where four people had been shot after an apparent crash and shootout.

Two badly damaged cars sustaining damage including bullet holes.

A witness said multiple people from both cars jumped out and exchanged gunfire forcing people in the area to duck for cover.

READ MORE: 4 hospitalized after apparent crash, shootout at Dolton Auto Zone

The sheriff's office said responding officers found 30-year-old Torrey Lewis of Markham in the driver's seat of a Nissan Maxima. They also found a rifle and a handgun in the front passenger area of the car.

A second man who had also been shot was found in the backseat of the car.

Two other men with gunshot wounds were found outside the vehicle.

Police said the shootout had occurred between Lewis' vehicle and another vehicle. They also determined the Maxima in which he was found had been reported stolen out of Chicago in December.

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Police said that while Lewis was on electronic monitoring, him leaving his home location did not trigger an alert because he was on state-mandated free movement at the time. The SAFE-T Act provides all people on court-ordered electronic monitoring two days of free movement per week in order to conduct essential tasks like grocery shopping, job interviews, attending religious services, getting medical or mental health treatment, or other "basic activities" defined in the act.

While officers could not monitor Lewis' movement during that free time, later review of his GPS device history show he left his home before 9 a.m., then drove around at high rates of speed through the South Suburbs, sometimes exceeding 100 mph, the sheriff's office said, until he reached the scene of the shootout. Police said there is no evidence Lewis was attempting to do any of the basic activities allowed by the law during that time.

Lewis had been placed on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial for murder, attempted carjacking and armed robbery in connection with a 2017 shooting that killed a disabled man who was shot in his wheelchair in front of his girlfriend in Country Club Hills.

Lewis was arrested and charged in 2018 and initially ordered held without bail, but in May 2020 his bond was reduced to $300,000 with electronic monitoring after he posted bond.

Lewis is charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in connection to the Dolton shootout. He remains hospitalized from his injuries, but in an initial court appearance Tuesday he was ordered held in custody upon release from the hospital.

He is due back in court on Thursday.