A man accused of driving an SUV through a suburban Chicago shopping mall was charged on Sept. 29 with a state terrorism and ordered held without bond.
Police in Schaumburg said the Cook County state’s attorney had authorized the charge against Javier Garcia, 22, of Palatine, Illinois. Garcia was also charged with felony criminal damage to property.
Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Annalee McGlone said during the bond hearing that on Sept. 20 Garcia drove his SUV through a Sears entrance into the common area of Woodfield Mall, weaving in and out of kiosks as shoppers ran for cover. The vehicle struck no one.
“Chaos ensued among the patrons of the mall. Hysterical patrons were running and jumping in attempts to evade the vehicle’s path. Stores were locking their gates and sheltering people in the rear of stores for safety purposes,” McGlone said.
Under Illinois law, the Class X felony of terrorism can apply if the suspect is believed to have caused more than $100,000 in damage to any building containing five or more businesses, according to a statement issued by Schaumburg Police Sgt. Karen McCarthy. No federal charges have been brought against Garcia.
Investigators said in a statement that they “believe Garcia acted alone, no motive has been determined.” He was released to police custody on Friday from the AMITA Health Behavioral Institute.
Defense attorney Amil Alkass said Garcia has no criminal history. He also noted his client takes psychiatric medications and is being treated for bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.
“He’s definitely not a terrorist,” Alkass told the Chicago Sun-Times. “There was nobody targeted.”
Crime is Recorded
The incident only caused minor injuries to three people, police said.
A Twitter user recorded the incident and posted it on his profile, the video has been viewed 10.5 million times at the time of writing this report. Warning: The video contains graphic language.
A video shows the SUV in front of Forever 21, it then makes a right turn and crashes through a display in front of another store.
The SUV then speeds down the mall and crashes into another store before it reverses out and drives to another part of the mall.
Another Twitter user recorded a video revealing the front of Sears after the SUV went through it.
“The car drove into woodfield [sic] through sears right passed [sic] my mom! Sooo scary!” Nicole Doyle wrote on Twitter.
This Youtuber user captured the moment of Garcia’s arrest on video.
Garcia wearing a red shirt can be seen sitting down in a store with several officers.
Epoch Times reporter Alan Cheung contributed to this report.
