(WTTW News)

As Chicago police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle downtown Wednesday, one of the men inside allegedly fired a shot at an officer before he himself was shot multiple times by other officers, prosecutors said Friday.

Edgardo Perez, 24, was ordered held without bail during a hearing Friday following his arrest on charges of attempted first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and criminal trespass to a vehicle.

According to Cook County prosecutors, Perez was sitting in the passenger seat of a stolen vehicle Wednesday evening that was being driven by 20-year-old Noel Centeno. A third man, 21-year-old Jesse Sanchez was sitting in the back seat.

The men were allegedly driving on Lower Wacker Drive near Columbus Avenue at around 8:48 p.m., when officers in a nearby squad car were notified by a license plate reader that the vehicle the men were driving had been reported stolen in a carjacking.

Those officers performed a U-turn in front of the men, blocking the vehicle’s path, according to Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy. As they did this, Centeno allegedly reversed his vehicle, crashing into another car that was behind them.

One of the officers walked toward the vehicle’s front passenger side and can be heard on body cam video telling the men to show their hands, Murphy said. Perez then allegedly fired a shot at the officer. The bullet missed, but the officer may have been injured by broken glass from the car window Perez had shot through, according to Murphy.

Other officers then fired shots at Perez, striking him in the chest, arm and leg. He was treated at Northwestern Hospital and survived those injuries. The officer who was shot at was treated for eye damage and a second officer was treated for a rapid heart rate.

Police recovered the firearm Perez used, a 9mm handgun with a laser sight and an extended magazine, Murphy said. One 9mm shell casing was found inside the car, which Murphy said matched Perez’s weapon and not the officers’. A second gun, a chrome revolver, was also recovered from the backseat.

According to Murphy, body cam video shows the passenger side window of the car being blown out by Perez’s gunfire, and smoke could be seen emanating from that window. 

Surveillance video of the incident has since been published online.

In an interview with investigators, Centeno allegedly denied carjacking anyone, and instead claimed he found the vehicle with the keys inside it in Skokie. Sanchez also spoke to investigators after his arrest, saying he didn’t know anything about the stolen vehicle and indicating police may have fired first after Centeno began backing up.

Sanchez did admit that the revolver recovered belonged to him, Murphy said.

Centeno, who was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, had his bond set at $250,000 during Friday’s hearing. Sanchez was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a controlled substance and criminal trespass to a vehicle, and had his bond set at $50,000. Those men must pay 10% of those amounts to be released from jail.

Perez, Centeno and Sanchez are all due back in court for a hearing Feb. 16.

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431