A man who accidentally fired his gun last month at a Loop hotel later called a detective investigating the case and threatened to kill him, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Cook County Associate Judge Sophia Atcherson on Saturday denied bail for Reginald Tolbert, 24, who faces seven felony charges, including reckless discharge of a firearm and threatening a public official.
About 10 a.m. on February 16, Tolbert was staying at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 151 E. Wacker when another guest complained of smoke coming from his room, prosecutors said. A security guard at the hotel told him to go to the lobby to pay a fee for smoking in the room.
While Tolbert shuffled through his pockets looking for his wallet, he accidentally triggered a gun in his waistband, prosecutors said. A bullet went through his pants and struck the marble floor, causing bullet fragments to fly off the floor and strike five people – four women and a man.
Tolbert ran out of the lobby but turned around and pointed a gun, threatening to shoot a person who chased him outside, prosecutors said. While running away, Tolbert dropped his wallet. Officers later found a gun in an empty garbage can near the hotel.
Detectives investigating the case identified Tolbert as the suspect using the ID cards in his wallet and his hotel registration, prosecutors said.
A week after the incident, Tolbert called Chicago Police’s Area Central detectives and asked to speak to a specific detective who he had previously spoke to about the case, prosecutors said. Over the phone, Tolbert told the detective he would kill him or any other officer that came to his south suburban South Holland home again.
Officers arrested Tolbert on Thursday afternoon in Riverdale, CPD arrest records show.
He was charged with two counts of threatening a public official and one count each of reckless discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and armed habitual criminal. He also faces a misdemeanor count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Tolbert is due back in court on Wednesday.
