4 charged in Bridgeport kidnapping appear in court

Four men charged in connection with a drug-related kidnapping in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood appeared for a bond hearing today.

Bail was set at $175,000 for Curtis Sanders, 34, of the 0-99 block of East 113th Street in Chicagol; $150,000 for Jeffrey Hollinghead, 43, of the 34300 block of North Barberry Road in Round Lake Beach; Kevin Koonce, 25, of the 400 block of North Beverly Avenue in Villa Park; and Donald Hines, 39, of 500 block of West Wingpointe Drive in Aurora. All were charged with one count of kidnapping with a firearm and home invasion with a firearm.

Koonce, Hollinghead and Hines have no criminal background, but Sanders bail was set higher because of a prior drug conviction in Indiana, according to prosecutors.

The kidnapping, which was drug-related, took place Thursday in the 3700 block of South Union Avenue, police said.

At 12:30 p.m. the four men entered the home and put a hood over the head of a 32-year-old man in a wheelchair, threatening him at gunpoint, prosecutors said. The men fled in two vehicles with the victim in one of them.

Prosecutors said Hines drove the victim, who was tied up and wearing the hood, "to multiple locations" as the other suspects, who were in a different car, tried to arrange a ransom of an unspecified amount with the victim's family.

The victim escaped at some point, untying himself and fleeing down and alley. He suffered unspecified injuries, but was treated for them at a local hospital and eventually released.

Meanwhile, the victim's family called police. Chicago police and the FBI, who were requested by Chicago officers to assist in the investigation, arranged for a ransom stop for Hollinghead, Koonce and Sanders. They arranged for it to happen in the 1900 block of South Des Plaines Street and told the suspects to look for a garbage can marked with Xs.

About midnight, authorities at the ransom drop scene saw the car with Hollinghead, Koonce and Sanders, who was at the wheel, prosecutors said. Hollinghead exited the car and opened the X-marked garbage can, prosecutors said, but fled back into the car when he noticed police were watching.

The trio was arrested shortly thereafter.

Hines, meanwhile, was spotted around that time in a black pick-up truck and led authorities on a chase, until he was stopped by DuPage County sheriff's police in a shopping mall in Bloomingdale.

--Daniel Simmons

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