Towing Company Owner Tried To Kill Employee After Quitting: Cops

PARK RIDGE, IL — A towing company owner is accused of trying to kill an employee after he allegedly fired a gun at an employee Tuesday during an argument outside a Park Ridge shopping center, police said. Around 8:30 a.m., police got a call about a disturbance at a parking lot in the 2600 block of East Dempster Street.

David Jilwaya, 44, of Des Plaines, fled the scene in a gray SUV when officers arrived, police said. An investigation determined Jilwaya had been in a fight with a 21-year-old man from unincorporated Des Plaines who had been working for him, according to Deputy Chief Duane Mellema.

The two were fighting over the personal use of a company tow truck without Jilwaya's approval, Mellema said. At some point after the argument turned physical, Jilwaya, a licensed concealed carry card holder, fell to the ground and pulled out a gun, Mellema said.

As the staffer ran away, his boss allegedly fired a single shot at him. No one was hit.

Jilwaya returned to the parking lot about five to 10 minutes later, while Park Ridge police were still on scene speaking to the victim and witnesses, Mellema said.

The towing service owner used racial slurs and threatened to kill the man he had just allegedly shot at, police said. After refusing orders from officers, he was forcibly taken into custody .

Police found a spent .380 caliber shell casing in the parking lot and a .380 caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun inside Jilwaya's SUV.

Investigators believe the employee had quit during a phone conversation earlier that morning, Mellema told the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate. Jilwaya then tracked the man's company vehicle to the parking lot of the Crystal Landings Shopping Center using GPS technology.

Jilwaya was ordered held without bond at Cook County jail ahead of a June 28 court appearance in Skokie.

Top photo: David Jilwaya (Cook County Sheriff's Office)