A Chicago man has been convicted of a slew of charges, including attempted murder, after a 2017 incident that left a police officer wounded. Dante Jeffries, 34, faced trial for his role in a T-Mobile store robbery and subsequent shooting of an officer in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood. According to CBS Chicago, a Cook County jury found Jeffries guilty on multiple counts including five counts of attempted murder and four counts of aggravated kidnapping.
Jeffries, alongside two accomplices, was accused of robbing the mobile store on July 21, 2017, where employees were forcefully restrained with zip ties, and phones pilfered from the safe. CBS Chicago reports that when two officers arrived on the scene, Jeffries and another suspect fired at them as they made their getaway, striking an officer in the knee. Jeffries is due back in court on June 12 for post-trial motions, while a date for sentencing remains undecided.
The jury took less than three hours to reach a verdict in Jeffries' case on Friday, reported ABC 7 Chicago. Adding to his legal troubles, Jeffries is also facing charges for an alleged assault on three correctional officers while in custody at Cook County Jail in 2020, which is a separate case altogether.
Jeffries' co-defendants in the T-Mobile case, Donzell Grant and Cortez Harrington, are still awaiting their day in court. Harrington, identified as the getaway driver, was apprehended after police located his Dodge Charger in the vicinity, while Grant was arrested following a physical confrontation with an officer. Both accomplices' roles and charges will be addressed in upcoming trials, the details of which are yet to be cemented.
