Anonymous tip, ankle monitor link suspect to Northwest Side shooting at trooper, DPS says

A man who was out on bond on an aggravated assault charge was re-arrested after shooting at a Department of Public Safety trooper last week, according to an arrest affidavit.

Adrian Amador, 20, was booked Monday on a warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators received an anonymous tip that linked Amador, who out on bond in three separate cases, to the Oct. 30 shooting near a Northwest Side hotel.

At the time of the shooting, Amador was barred from possessing firearms and required a 24-hour ankle monitor, which investigators also used to connect him to the case.

DPS troopers initially responded around 5 a.m. to a burglary of another trooper’s unmarked vehicle at the Homewood Suites in the 4300 block of Spectrum One. According to the affidavit, Amador’s ankle monitor showed him in the area at that time.

A trooper saw a low black Ford pickup near the hotel within the hour of the robbery, according to the affidavit. The trooper followed the truck after it made a U-turn and turned onto the Interstate 10 frontage road.

The trooper told investigators that a passenger leaned out of the window and pointed a weapon at him, the affidavit says. He said he saw a muzzle flash and heard a gunshot. Neither the trooper nor his vehicle was hit.

According to the affidavit, “Investigators are currently unsure if the vehicle burglary and this shooting are related or coincidental.”

Surveillance video showed two men in hooded sweatshirts leaving the nearby Broadstone Colonnade Apartments in the truck, the affidavit says. Investigators could not identify the vehicle through video or license plate reader data.

GPS records from Amador’s ankle monitor also showed he was in and around the Broadstone Colonnade Apartments around the time of the shooting on Oct. 30, the affidavit says. The GPS device then traveled the same route the trooper described, ending at Amador’s home on the far West Side.

A DPS trooper also found social media photos showing Amador with large amounts of cash and firearms, according to the affidavit.

Amador and his brother were detained on Monday evening, however court records indicate the brother has not been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Amador told investigators he and his brother work in landscaping and that a friend lives at the Broadstone Colonnade Apartments. He admitted to being at the apartments on Oct. 30 but denied any role in the shooting, the affidavit says.

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