Man Who Crashed Into Burbank Home Was Wanted For Homicide: Cops

BURBANK, IL — A 23-year-old Oak Lawn man who crashed his car into a home in Burbank last week while being pursued by police is accused of shooting 26-year-old David Garcia of North Riverside, according to police. Hussein Ali Matari appeared in the Maybrook Courthouse June 18 on charges of first-degree murder.

The evening of June 13 began with Garcia attending a birthday party for his cousin’s son at his aunt’s house in the 2500 block of Westover Avenue. During the party, Garcia’s cousin arranged for Matari, whom she met on Instagram, to pick her up, prosecutors said.

Garcia was not acquainted with Matari, family members told police.

The woman went off with Matari in his lime green BMW, which she had seen him driving, according to prosecutors. They stopped at a gas station, where prosecutors said Matari handed the woman a black handgun with an extended magazine while he went to the bathroom.

While waiting in the car, the woman took a video of the gun in her lap and sent it to several people on Snapchat. Matari came back and drove the woman into the city, where they both drove up and down Lake Shore Drive for a while, according to court documents.

During the ride, the woman began receiving texts from her cousin that she needed to come back to the party, prosecutors said. As Matari was driving the woman back to the suburbs, her aunt called her.

Garcia and another cousin were standing in the alley waiting for the woman to return when Matari drove past the aunt’s house and parked by some apartment buildings, prosecutors said. The woman was sitting in the front seat.

Garcia and another cousin walked over to the BMW. Prosecutors said Matari told the men to get into the car. Garcia and his cousin got into the back seat, and the cousin asked Matari if he was the reason why the woman left the party, according to prosecutors.

The woman was stepping out of the front passenger seat when prosecutors said she fell out, hitting her face on the pavement and cracking two teeth. While the other cousin was helping her into their aunt’s house, Matari took off with Garcia in the back seat, prosecutors said.

Back inside the aunt’s home, Garcia’s girlfriend called 911 to report that Garcia was gone, prosecutors said. The cousins and girlfriend gave North Riverside police Matari’s name and phone number.

A few blocks away, a neighbor looked outside his kitchen window and saw a lime green car double-parked just past the alley. Prosecutors said the neighbor heard four to five muffled gunshots and the car drove off. The neighbor called 911.

Moments later, a Lyft driver was driving a passenger near the intersection of 25th Street and Haines Avenue, when she saw a man lying in the middle of the intersection. The Lyft driver called 911 and continued driving her passenger to their destination, prosecutors said.

North Riverside police found a gravely wounded Garcia in the street, along with two .40-caliber shell casings. Garcia was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Prosecutors said Garcia suffered from four gunshot wounds, including two to his upper legs and two in his back. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled Garcia’s death a homicide.

The next day, according to prosecutors, North Riverside police went to Matari’s residence in the 9100 block of South Melvina Avenue. Matari eventually showed up driving a Jeep Cherokee. He briefly went into the house, then came out and got back into the jeep, prosecutors said. The jeep took off at a high rate of speed, and North Riverside police followed until it crashed into a house near Narragansett Avenue and 85th Street in Burbank, prosecutors said.

Matari and his two passengers scrambled out of the Jeep and fled, according to prosecutors, but police found Matari hiding in a nearby yard.

The BMW was found in a parking garage of an apartment complex at 200 N. Dearborn St., according to court documents. Police claimed to have found blood splatter inside the BMW, along with a 9 mm handgun, an extended magazine and a fired bullet.

Prosecutors said Matari was also captured on security video talking to a tenant and making hand motions imitating shooting a gun.