27-Oct-18 – A man accused of firing a gun in the middle of the night from a condominium balcony at Marina City has pleaded not guilty and is out on $60,000 bond.

Joshua Yang (left), age 32, is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner ID card. At about 3:20 a.m., two police officers, Nicholas Chrabot and Evan Kilponen, were patrolling the neighborhood near Marina City when they heard shots fired.

The shots were heard by at least three residents of Marina City, two who live on the 28th floor of the west tower and one who lives on the 37th floor next door to the unit where the gunfire was originating. A 911 caller said “two Asian men” were firing a gun on their balcony.

When the officers arrived at Marina City at about 3:32 a.m., they met with a security supervisor, Darryl Flenoy, who told them a resident had reported two people on the balcony of unit 3703, one of whom was firing a handgun.

“He heard the shot and saw the muzzle flash,” according to the police report.

The officers went to the 37th floor of the west tower, found the door to unit 3703 unlocked, and entered the studio apartment.

Chrabot went to the balcony window, drew back the blinds, and saw a man, later identified as Yang, on the balcony with what appeared to be a gun in his hand. He told Yang to drop the weapon and lie on the ground.

(Left) Photo from 2010 showing the view from eight floors almost directly below the Marina City balcony. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Police recovered a Glock 19 nine-millimeter pistol with a four-inch barrel, a magazine with nine live rounds, and two rounds loose on the balcony.

After Yang released the weapon, Chrabot saw that he had been holding just the pistol grip, and the rest of the gun – the slide and barrel – were on the floor of the balcony.

Yang was taken into custody, along with another man who was in the apartment, Vladimir Bermudez, age 26, described by police as Hispanic, who lives at 175 North Harbor Drive in the New Eastside neighborhood of the Loop.

Bermudez told police Yang was his boss at STK, a restaurant one block north of Marina City. He had helped Yang get home but then Bermudez says he fell asleep on the bed.

He said, according to a police report, “something woke him suddenly and he went out onto the balcony and laid face down.” After he was on the ground, Bermudez says “officers entered the apartment and placed him into custody.”

There were open bottles of alcohol on the balcony and police say both Yang and Bermudez “smelled strongly of alcohol.”

At the 18th district police station, the men were put into separate holding cells. At 5:44 a.m., after being advised of his rights, Bermudez declined to speak further with police.

Yang, however, told police he had worked earlier in the evening at STK, then went out. He said he returned home to Marina City at around 2:00 a.m. and, according to a detective’s report, “simply wanted to go to sleep.”

He says he was lying in his bed when officers entered the apartment. He told police he does not own any guns and denied having a gun in his hand when they arrived.

Tests for gunshot residue revealed, according to police, that Yang had fired a weapon but tests on Bermudez were inconclusive and he was not charged.

Body-worn cameras rolling but unable to show Yang holding weapon

At least six police officers entered the apartment on the morning of the incident. Four officers had body-worn cameras operating but their views were obscured by treatments on the balcony window and police say they could not determine from the video if Yang was holding a weapon.

Chrabot and Kilponen did not have operating body-worn cameras.

One witness, who lives next door to Yang but had never met him, told police he was asleep when a loud noise woke him up. He moved closer to his balcony and heard two men talking. He then heard three or four more loud noises. He looked out onto the balcony next to his and saw that one of the men was holding a black handgun.

Another witness said she heard six gunshots.

Yang is from California. He has been arrested 12 times, charged with one felony, and has been convicted twice. He made his first court appearance on the most recent charges on May 31.

His bail was originally set at $30,000 but on August 14 Circuit Court Judge William O’Brien granted a motion to increase Yang’s bail to $60,000. Yang would have had to pay at least ten percent of the amount, with a bail bond agent making up the difference.

His next hearing is scheduled for November 15.