Tate Changed Clothes, Stole A Bike After CPD Cop's Slaying: Officials

CHICAGO — In the hours before and after Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca was gunned down in cold blood last month in his own driveway after finishing his shift, private and public surveillance cameras captured the movements of the man accused of killing him, officials said in court.

Xavier Tate, Jr., 22, appeared Friday before Judge Mary Marubio on felony charges of first-degree murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen firearm at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Prosecutors detailed Chicago police detectives' technology-driven investigation through purchases they said Tate made using his mother’s bank card, store security video, cellular data and other video gathered from 90 locations during Tate’s pretrial hearing.

The day before the shooting, April 20, Tate’s cousin ordered him an Uber from the 10800 block of South Hale to his residence in the 5500 block of South Morgan. Prosecutors said Tate was captured on surveillance cameras wearing a distinctive black Guess jacket with a dark gray hoodie underneath.

Around 9:55 p.m. that same day, prosecutors said Tate was captured on video buying a pack of gum at a convenience store using his mother’s bank card.

About a half hour later, in the 5800 block of South Sawyer, a resident looked out the window and saw a suspicious person putting a bag down on the sidewalk and starting changing his clothing. The resident went out to take a picture of the man because of his suspicious behavior, prosecutors said.

Tate had replaced his Nike shoes, that he had been wearing earlier in the evening from the stores he had visited, to distinctive Burberry shoes, prosecutors said. He had also changed his jacket to a gray pulled jacket with bright yellow striping.

Xavier Tate on store security video before and after CPD officer's slaying.

After midnight on April 21, he went to another convenience store in the 2800 block of West 95th Street wearing the same outfit he had changed into, where prosecutors said store video captured him buying a bottle of water using his mother’s bank card. At 2:41 a.m., prosecutors stated that Tate visited a Walgreens store, where he bought a bottle of Nice brand water, before walking a couple blocks more to Huesca’s residence.

Similar video showed Huesca, still in uniform, driving home from work toward his home and turning on 56th Street where he parked on his driveway. At 2:50 a.m., prosecutors said surveillance video showed Tate approaching the driver’s side of Huesca’s SUV, where he proceeded to fire ten shots at the officer, hitting him in the head, chest, arms and thighs.

A neighbor hearing gunshots looked out the window where a man, believed to be Tate, was standing at the young officer’s feet. According to the neighbor, Tate got into Huesca’s vehicle and fled, prosecutors said.

Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert and found the mortally wounded officer. Huesca’s service weapon was not on him when officers arrived. Huesca was rushed to UChicago Medical Center, where he died of his wounds. Investigators found 10 shell casings, which prosecutors said were later found to have Tate’s DNA.

Chicago PO Luis Huesca, 30

Fleeing in Huesca’s vehicle, prosecutors said video surveillance captured Tate driving into a secluded alley in the 5600 block of South Mozart Avenue, where he abandoned Huesca’s vehicle, prosecutors said. When police found the vehicle, they recovered hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Just before 3 p.m., Tate was captured walking down the street carrying a backpack with his jacket in his hand. Motion-activated video showed him gradually changing back into the clothes he was wearing earlier, prosecutors said. Police later found the Burberry shoes and other clothing in a garbage can. Tate had also apparently left the Nice bottle of water he purchased at Walgreens.

For the next several hours, a steady stream of public and private security cameras showed Tate stealing a bike from a yard and riding it through the streets toward the area of 55th Street and Oakley Avenue.

Around 5 a.m., Tate ditched the stolen bike behind a cousin’s home, where he called from outside to be let into the residence, according to the charges. A few hours later, prosecutors said his cousin let Tate use his phone and Uber account to order a ride to the home of Caschaus Tate, 20, near 108th Street and Hale Avenue in Morgan Park.

Police raided Caschaus Tate’s home a few days later on April 26, thinking Xavier was holed up there. Caschaus was spotted tossing a gun over a fence into his neighbor’s yard, court documents revealed. The gun turned out to be the slain police officer’s service weapon, prosecutors said.

The investigation also led to discovery of Tate’s broken cell phone in an alley near 55th and Oakley, the last activity associated with the phone number at 3:14 a.m., when prosecutors said police found the phone.

Between April 21 up until Tate’s capture May 2 in Glendale Heights, police maintain that Tate had traveled to Wisconsin, Iowa and Rockford.

Prosecutors told the judge that Tate has two pending misdemeanor cases out of Kane County for resisting arrest and obstructing justice. Tate missed the May 1 hearing date that he apparently missed. He also has a pending misdemeanor case for trespassing in Olympia Fields. Tate failed to show up for the April 24 court date, and a failure to appear was noted in court documents. He also has a juvenile arrest in Kane County for unlawful possession of a weapon, resulting in the entry of his DNA into the national Combined Index Data System.

Judge Mary Marubio called the shooting “an opportunistic crime” and ordered Tate detained, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

“This was a random person who was targeted, an opportunistic crime,” she told Tate as he appeared in a courtroom packed with police officers. “There is no pretrial program that can mitigate the danger you would pose to the community.”

Tate is due back in court May 22 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.