Four suspects are now in custody in the slaying of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis – including a 34-year-old parolee who was ordered held without bond Friday on an unrelated gun charge.
He and the three other men are being held in connection with Lewis’ fatal shooting in a West Side convenience store where he was moonlighting as a security guard. On Friday, the parolee appeared in Cook County Criminal Court, where he was ordered held without bond on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. The other three are in custody at the Grand-Central detective headquarters.
The parolee, whom the Chicago Sun-Times is not naming because he is not charged in Lewis’ murder, was in a car that was stopped Tuesday for making an improper turn. Police found a .357-caliber handgun with two live rounds in the car, prosecutors said.
Tactical officers stopped the car the man was riding in Tuesday in an effort to gather information about the murder.
The stop proved to be the key in solving the case, sources said.
The parolee, who wore a dark jacket and held a Cubs hat behind his back in court, was on parole for home invasion and has been convicted of seven other felonies, prosecutors said.
Lewis, who was buried Thursday after a funeral with honors, was gunned down during a holdup on Dec. 29 at the M&M Quick Foods at 1201 N. Austin.
Police have said two masked men walked into the store and robbed it. The bandits got away with hundreds of dollars.
Lewis fired a shot before one of the robbers opened fire on him with a TEC-9 semiautomatic weapon with a high-capacity clip, sources said.
Lewis’ weapon is missing, along with the TEC-9, sources said.
During Lewis’ funeral, police Supt. Garry McCarthy told his family: “We are indebted to you. . . . I promise we will not tire until we find and hold those responsible for this senseless act.”
No charges have been filed yet in the murder, officials say.
