Man wanted for Champaign vehicular hijacking is arrested in Chicago

CHICAGO (WAND) - A man wanted for a Champaign carjacking was arrested in the Chicago area.

Javon Tate, 24, was wanted for a series of events that authorities seek took place on Oct. 23 in west Champaign. According to police reports, officers responded to Thorntons at 101 S. Mattis Ave. for a report of a man holding a gun to a woman's head in a car.

Officers arrived and surrounded the car before a man identified as Tate left, dropped a bag of cannabis, then re-entered the vehicle before it took off, per police. Officers followed and stopped the car, at which time the woman was still inside but Tate ran.

According to The News-Gazette, the woman reported she was in the car with a male friend at the Gramercy Park apartment complex when police said Tate leaded into the passenger side window, pointed a gun at the male friend and made demands for money and drugs. The male friend told Tate to get in so they could go to where they could get money.

Police said they went to another apartment complex, picked up the girlfriend of the gunman and went to Thorntons in order to access an ATM. The male friend and gunman's girlfriend went inside while the woman was the in the car with the gunman, which is what police observed when they came to the scene.

Police found Tate through a cell phone left in the vehicle. He had been at large since the night of the alleged vehicular hijacking.

U.S. Marshals with the Great Lakes Task Force found Tate in Chicago on Wednesday. The newspaper reports it's unclear when he will be returned to Champaign County.

Tate was one of multiple men sentenced to seven years behind bars in early 2017 for helping to dismember the body of 24-year-old Ashley Gibson after she overdosed on drugs and died on April 17 or 18, 2016. This happened at a home on Hedge Road in Champaign. He has a past conviction for aggravated driving under the influence.

Tae faced charges of vehicular hijacking, attempted aggravated robbery and unlawful restraint before a warrant was issued for his arrest in late January. He faces a mandatory sentence of four to 30 years in prison if convicted of vehicular hijacking.