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CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - A reputed gang member accused of killing a man near Millennium Park over the weekend was riding his bicycle with his girlfriend and her five children when he decided to get into the deadly shoving match with the victim, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Paul Pagan “presents a great danger to the community,” Judge James Brown said before ordering the 32-year-old held without bail. Pagan is charged with murder in the shooting death of Peter Fabbri, who had been in the park attending a gourmet food-and-wine tasting.
While Fabbri and his companions were headed to the CTA on Saturday night, they got into a scuffle over the Bible with another group of people, authorities said.
Pagan wasn’t even part of that initial altercation.
The original fight Fabbri had been involved escalated, as both groups began pushing and shoving, Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.
Pagan was westbound on his bicycle, his girlfriend and her children walking alongside him, when Pagan rode up to 54-year-old Fabbri and started arguing with him, Santini said.
Soon, the two men were shoving one another, Santini said.
Pagan, a member of the Insane Dragons, pulled out a .22-caliber weapon; he shot Fabbri in the abdomen and then in the head at point-blank range, Santini said.
As the 5-foot-3, 250-pound Pagan tried to flee on his bicycle, a female witness tried to pull him off, Santini said.
Pagan’s girlfriend hit the woman, causing her to lose her grip on Pagan, Santini said.
Pagan rode away, but he was caught five minutes later at 67 E. Madison, Santini said.
Fabbri, of Berwyn, died the next day at an area hospital.
According to a Gofundme page Fabbri’s relatives created to help with burial expenses, he had been with his girlfriend and mother when he was gunned down. (The Gofundme effort had raised nearly $5,000 by Tuesday afternoon, exceeding its $4,000 goal.)
Police recovered a .22-caliber revolver they found at Pagan’s feet, Santini said. The gun was loaded with four live rounds and had two expended shell casings in the cylinder, Santini said.
At least four witnesses identified Pagan as Fabbri’s shooter, Santini said.
Pagan, who has tattoos of flames on his neck and a naked woman on his left arm, already had been awaiting trial for a misdemeanor domestic battery.
Pagan, of the 500 block of West 45th, has previous convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless conduct, marijuana possession and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, Santini said.
Assistant Public Defender Preston Jones said Pagan has six kids; two are autistic. He used to work in the shipping and receiving department in a factory but has spent the last two years watching his special-needs children, Jones said.
Outside court Tuesday, Fabbri’s sister, Shelly Fabbri thanked the community for the outpouring of support, but declined to comment further.