A suburban Chicago man wanted in connection with the January murder of an Evanston teenager was arrested earlier this month after trying to enter Fort Hood in Texas while driving a car loaded with drugs and stolen guns, police announced Thursday.
Ronald Kyle III, 18, of the 3800 block of 186th Place, Country Club Hills, was taken into custody Nov. 3 in Killeen, Texas at the Fort Hood military post. Kyle was stopped by military police when he attempted to enter the base, police said.
A search of his vehicle yielded more than 300 grams of marijuana and four guns, three of which were reported stolen in Texas, police said.
Police said Kyle threw a puppy in the face of a military police officer who confronted him and attempted to flee on foot but was taken into custody.
Kyle currently faces federal charges in the United States District Court Western District of Texas related to the incident. While he was in custody, it was discovered that Kyle had an active warrant from Evanston for first-degree murder, which he is also being held on with no bail, Evanston police said Thursday.
“[Evanston Police] and the U.S. Marshals have been looking for him for quite some time," Evanston Police Cmdr. Joe Dugan told NBC 5. "So it is good to get him in custody to answer to the charges.”
Dugan said he did not know why Kyle attempted to enter a military base but said it was a "big mistake on his part, obviously."
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Dugan also did not know the condition of the puppy Kyle allegedly threw at a military police officer.
Fort Hood and U.S. Attorney's Office officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Kyle was wanted in connection with the murder of Bejamin Mandujano-Bradford, 20, shot and killed in Evanston on Jan. 19, about 9:06 p.m. in the 1300 block of Darrow Avenue. Evanston Police detectives will work with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and Texas authorities to further their investigation and formally charge Kyle, according to a news release.
“Hopefully it will bring [Mandujano-Bradford's] family some relief,” Dugan said of Kyle's arrest.
At the time of his death, Mandujano-Bradford was enrolled in an Evanston at-risk youth program run through Curt’s Café, where students learn food service skills, the Chicago Tribune’s Pioneer Press reported at the time.
On the day he was killed, he had learned that he had passed his food certification exam after several attempts, the newspaper reported.
