DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — A Decatur DoorDash driver is facing criminal charges after police said he fired three shots at a car driven by a rival driver. Police added that there were children inside that car when it was shot at.

The shooting happened Sunday night in the area of Forest and Taylor Avenues. A sworn statement from the Decatur Police Department identified Dean Steward, 27, as the alleged shooter and court documents show he was charged with three crimes: aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a weapon.

At a detention hearing, Judge Lindsey Shelton found that proof was evident that Steward had committed those offenses and posed a real and present threat toward community safety, with no conditions of release able to mitigate that threat. She ordered that he remain detained pretrial.

Officer Corbin Winans, who signed the sworn statement on file, said the victim and Steward encountered each other at a First Wok restaurant the night of Feb. 23. A female companion who was with Steward told officers that he and the victim had an “interaction,” but Winans did not explain what kind of interaction they had.

The victim and a friend who was with her were able to see Steward and his companion were driving a silver sedan, Winans said. Steward’s companion told officers during a mirandized interview it was her car and she was driving.

Steward’s companion said Steward was in the passenger’s seat as they completed an order on Forest Avenue. Winans said she told officers that they saw the victim’s car and she had to drive past it after dropping off the food they were delivering.

“(She) advised Dean stated something to the effect of ‘I think that’s them,” Winans said. “(She) stated that as the passed (the victim’s) vehicle, she observed Dean lean his body out of the passenger window.”

The victim told officers that she was stopped to complete an order of her own and her friend was out of the car dropping off food. In addition to her friend, Winans said the victim was accompanied by three children.

It was as the victim was stopped, and her friend was out of the car, when Steward and his companion drove past and Winans said he leaned out of the passenger-side window. The victim said she knew who was inside, having seen them and the silver sedan at First Wok.

“(The victim) advised she observed Dean lean out of the passenger window where he stated, ‘I’m going to shoot this (expletive) up,'” Winans said. “(The victim) advised she saw the muzzle flash and could hear the gunshots hitting near her vehicle.”

It was estimated that three to four shots were fired, none of which hit anyone in the car. Winans said the silver sedan fled the area and his companion saw him get back into his seat.

“(She) advised that she knew Dean to have a firearm due to the way he was holding his hands in his pockets,” Winans said. “(She) stated that she did not recall when Dean placed the firearm under her seat as she was in shock.”

That’s where the gun was found when officers pulled over the sedan 10 minutes after the shooting. Winans said officers found three spent shell casings and three live rounds in the cylinder.

During his own Mirandized interview, Steward is said to have admitted that the gun belonged to him for “his personal protection,” but he later admitted to firing it at the victim.

“Dean ultimately admitted to shooting at the car because he was trying to scare (the victim),” Winans said.

Winans added that a check of the Macon County Circuit Clerks’ records revealed Steward has multiple prior convictions. Those records, and further sworn statements from Decatur Police, revealed that Steward is a juvenile sex offender who was convicted in 2013 at the age of 16. He failed to register as an offender four times over the last 10 years and he was also convicted of forging a check in a 2018 case.

Steward was sentenced to prison in 2015, 2018 and 2020, and probation in 2017 and 2023.