On the evening of December 29, 2011, off-duty Chicago police officer Clifton Lewis was working a second job as a security guard at the M&M Quick Foods convenience store in the Austin section of Chicago, according to police reports. At 8:32 pm, two masked men entered the store while Lewis was behind the counter, as captured by surveillance cameras. ' when they entered, police stated.
One masked man vaulted over the counter, fired at Lewis, grabbed the officer's gun, police star, and cash, then fled, according to investigators. Lewis died from the shooting. ' Police set up a tip line and offered a $10,000 reward for information, authorities reported.
Chicago Police Department brass ordered neighborhood gang crimes officers to work only on this case, per department orders. After a few days, police received a tip that a street gang called the Spanish Cobras had killed Lewis, sources indicated. Police arrested more than 100 Spanish Cobras and interrogated them, officials said.
A week later, three men in CPD interrogation rooms claimed that Spanish Cobra Alex Villa was the man who jumped over the counter and killed Lewis, and each said they had helped, according to police records. Police had recorded confessions to implicate Villa in the crime, investigators noted. The specific evidence or motive linking Villa and the Spanish Cobras to the crime beyond the confessions remains unclear.
The outcome of the police investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings is also unknown.