Police: Man Faces Gun Charges After Shooting at Driver in Parked Car
John Kavan, 70, is accused of shooting at a man whose car had run out of gas, Chief Ernest Brown said.
Updated 9:16 a.m. Wednesday
A Downers Grove man faces felony gun charges after firing a shot at the driver of a car near the intersection of Greenbriar Lane and Bailey Road in Darien on Thursday evening, Darien Police Chief Ernest Brown said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
John Kavan, 70, of the 500 block of Redondo Drive, approached a car that had run out of gas around 7:30 p.m. and confronted the man who was waiting with it, Brown said.
The man's friend had called his mother for assistance and left with her to get more gas for the car, Brown said. They didn’t get enough gas on the first trip and returned to the station for more.
It was while the friend was on his second trip to the gas station that Kavan approached the car, Brown said. Kavan first asked the man if everything was all right, according to a Darien Police Department release.
Kavan challenged the man who was with the car and told him to start it, Brown said. The car started and the man was able to pull away just as Kavan fired a .38 caliber revolver, which shattered the car's back window, the release said.
“Fortunately he drove away,” Brown said. “Otherwise we’d be dealing with a homicide instead of a broken window.”
Darien detectives suspected Kavan was involved with the incident because of previous encounters they have had with him, Brown said. They tried to make contact with him, but Brown said Kavan ended up turning himself in and confessing to the incident around 1:30 p.m. Friday. He told police he was just trying to scare the driver, according to the release.
He was charged with a class four felony of reckless discharge of a firearm with additional charges pending, Brown said. Kavan was taken to DuPage County Jail, where he has since been released on bond. Brown could not disclose any other details because of the ongoing investigation.
Tom Koz
11:58 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Lauren, the story sounds fishy. Why did Kavan approach the vehicle?? At that location even if they only got 1 gallon of gas on the first trip, that would have been enough to drive the car to the gas station. Did Kavan feal that his life was in danger?? Drug deal gone bad???? What's the story????
Lauren Williamson
12:16 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Hi Tom,
I included all of the information the police department is releasing at this time. I will update the story if and when more information becomes available.
Thanks,
Lauren Williamson
Editor, Darien Patch
Rahjer Devin
10:19 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Lauren - if would be interesting if also include Kavans' past history with police. What sounds fishy is that they knew exactly where to go once given a description "based on previous encounters". Does he have background confronting teens in distress or shooting up the neighborhood?
Lauren Williamson
10:30 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Hi Rahjer,
Deputy Chief John Cooper said that officers were familiar with Kavan because he used to live in the neighborhood where the incident occurred. "Officers have contact with a lot of residents," Cooper said. "When the victim described (Kavan), an officer said, 'That sounds like this guy.'" Cooper didn't have information about a specific prior incident.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Lauren Williamson
Editor, Darien Patch
Mary Ocean
11:05 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sure seems like a shooting would tie up a shift of 4 officer's and leave no one left for the rest of the town of 22,389????? Is the PD still allowing the shift's down to four? I thought they where and how often is this happening?
Lauren Williamson
11:11 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Hi Mary,
The police department is still using the "schedule five, work with four" plan. In recent months they have not released the number of times they've gone down to four officers on duty. Here is the most recent report, which was released in December: http://patch.com/A-pknF Chief Brown said last night that a workload analysis is 75 percent complete, which should shed more light on department staffing processes.
Best,
Lauren Williamson
Editor, Darien Patch
Michael Thomas
3:30 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Let's be honest after reviewing the numbers from the analysis the only number that is important to the city is net savings to date. This information doesn't include how long it took an officer to respond to a call because he was the only one that could respond and he was coming from the other side of town. Or when all of the officers are busy and nobody is protecting us (as long as there is not a stacked call). I said this just the other day, things seem to be picking up and I sure hope they address this work with four deal. Maybe crime comes and goes but it sure seems like you can not predict what day and time it will happen.