License plate readers credited with helping catch suspect in shooting that killed two on Stevenson Expressway

CHICAGO (CBS) — In September of last year, a DoorDash driver was followed for miles and then targeted in a shooting on the Stevenson Expressway.

When it was all over, that driver and another man ended up dead.

Late Thursday, police announced they caught the accused gunman. As CBS 2’s Sabrina Franza reported, police said long-awaited license plate readers played a role in helping catch the suspect.

The license plate readers helped Chicago Police, Illinois State Police, and Cicero Police coordinate and make the arrest.

Investigators also said this was not the suspect’s first shooting, first stolen car, or even first murder.

Police said Joseph Guzman, 20, went on a shootout and chase on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 28 of last year. Victims – Eric Macedo and Felix Geron, both 20 – were driving together on the expressway on a DoorDash delivery.

Exit by exit, license plate readers pieced together their path.

“We knew where the victim was, based on the route of travel,” said Maj. Matthew Gainer of the Illinois State Police Criminal Investigation Division. “We were able to link multiple license plate readers to the victims’ path, which allows for more data for us to filter through to better identify other vehicles that were traveling in the same direction at the timeframe.”

Police said Guzman followed his victims all the way from the Chicago Avenue entrance to DuSable Lake Shore Drive south to the entrance to the Stevenson.

Chicago Police and Office of Emergency Management and Communications cameras caught Guzman before he got onto the interstate. Guzman’s car and the DoorDash driver’s car were rolling side-by-side and went under an underpass at Canal Street.

Around 11:30 p.m. that night, at least nine shots were fired into the victims’ vehicle. It crashed on the interstate.

Macedo and Geron were both pronounced dead at the scene.

Since the crime, Illinois State Police say they have installed more cameras in the same area. By the midsummer, there will be 300 – all funded through grant money.

So far this year, there have been at least 56 expressway shootings.

“Obviously, no one lives on the interstate, so we can identify offenders of incidents and then we want to follow them as they get off the interstate and possibly go towards where they’re living, or where they’re saying, or where they’re just looking to avoid law enforcement,” Gainer said. “So the more data that we collect and share among law enforcement, the better all agencies become.”

The data were able to help connect Guzman to another murder in west suburban Cicero. He has now been charged in three murders.

Wea re told the next round of cameras will be placed in spots that are known to have higher crime rates.