The Aurora Police Department is continuing to investigate the circumstances of an incident involving a vehicle wanted in a shooting Wednesday, Feb. 19 afternoon which led officers on a pursuit and eventually crashed into multiple vehicles near the Fox Valley Mall.
Erik Esparza, 24, of Aurora, was believed to have been the driver of the offending vehicle, was transported by Aurora Fire Department paramedics to Good Samaritan hospital where he succumbed to his injuries Wednesday evening. The DuPage County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on Thursday.
Additionally, a passenger inside the offending vehicle, Adrien Betsinger, 23, of the 500 block of Woodlawn Avenue in Aurora, was charged in connection to Wednesday’s shooting that occurred in the 600 block of South Broadway. The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office authorized the following charges against Betsinger:
One Class X Felony count of Attempted Murder;
One Class X Felony count of Aggravated Battery with Firearm;
Six Class 1 Felony counts of Aggravated Discharge;
One Class 2 Felony count of a Felon Possessing a Firearm while on Parole.
At 1:30 p.m., officers were responding to call of shots fired in the 600 block of South Broadway. While they were responding to the scene, a description of the suspected vehicle involved in the shooting was relayed over the radio and the vehicle, a grey Chevrolet Monte Carlo, was spotted by an officer.
The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle wanted in connection to an aggravated discharge of a firearm incident Tuesday night in the 400 block of South State Street.
With the knowledge that the offenders in the suspected vehicle were potentially involved in two shooting incidents in less than 24 hours, Aurora Police Department patrol supervisors believed that the offenders in the vehicle posed a great risk to the community at large and allowed officers to continue to pursue.
A patrol supervisor was monitoring the radio during the pursuit and continuously reviewing the incoming information to determine whether the pursuit should be continued or terminated.
During the pursuit, the driver of the offending vehicle was observed driving at a high rate of speed into on-coming traffic along East New York Street. As the offending vehicle was approaching busy Route 59, officers terminated the pursuit, turned off their emergency lights and sirens and slowed their patrol vehicles. Shortly thereafter, the suspects’ vehicle was involved in a crash near the Fox Valley Mall.
Two illegal guns were located inside the vehicle by investigators.
The charges against Betsinger are not proof of guilt. Betsinger is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
— Aurora Police Department