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shooting. (ISP; Google)
A Chicago man involved in a road rage incident on the Stevenson Expressway, where he
fired a machine gun at an off-duty police officer, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to court
records.
The shootout in August 2022 left both the officer and the accused, 26-year-old David
Abarca, unharmed. However, a 24-year-old woman driving the car Abarca was in sustained serious head injuries from
a bullet fired by the officer.
The altercation began around 10 p.m. on August 4, 2022. The off-duty officer, while
driving to work, honked at a car that did not move at a green light on Kedzie Avenue near the Stevenson
entrance. Abarca was a passenger in this vehicle, prosecutors stated.
The woman driving slammed on the brakes as the officer followed them onto the
Stevenson entrance ramp, forcing the officer to brake hard to avoid a collision. The officer’s rear-facing
dashcam later recorded the vehicle pulling up behind and then alongside his car as they drove inbound, according
to prosecutors. Officials indicated that the woman attempted to force the officer off the road and flashed her
bright lights at him.
At one point, the officer spotted a bright green laser beam coming from the other
vehicle. Believing the laser was attached to a gun, the officer fired into the car, as per prosecutors. Someone
in the other vehicle returned fire. The now-dismantled CPD ShotSpotter system recorded 23 rounds of automatic
gunfire during the incident, prosecutors noted.
The woman was shot in the head, causing her to crash into a cement barrier near Archer
Avenue, according to prosecutors. Abarca was unharmed. A truck driver who stopped to assist informed police that
Abarca asked him not to call the police, prosecutors said. Nonetheless, the truck driver called 911, and the
off-duty officer also made a 911 call.
Investigators discovered a handgun with an extended magazine, an auto-fire switch, and
a green laser sight on an embankment 15 feet from the crashed vehicle. They also located 23 shell casings
ejected from the firearm. Abarca initially denied having a weapon.
Abarca was initially charged with attempted murder and other offenses, but these
charges were dismissed after he pled guilty to possessing a machine gun in a vehicle. Judge Steven Watkins
sentenced him to 15 years in prison, with credit for 1,493 days served in Cook County Jail. Prosecutors noted
that Abarca had prior juvenile delinquency adjudications for armed robbery in 2018 and unlawful possession of a
weapon in 2017, as stated during an initial court hearing.
