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Balfour Convicted Of Attempted Murder In 1999

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Oct 28, 2008 10:44 pm US/Central

Balfour Convicted Of Attempted Murder In 1999

Reporting
Pamela Jones

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: William Balfour
Courtesy: Chicago Police Department

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Ten years before the Hudson murders, William Balfour was involved in another high profile Chicago crime, and was convicted of attempted murder. CBS 2's Pamela Jones takes a look back when CBS 2's Burleigh Hines interviewed the victim in 1998.

Charles Gardner got these burns in a fight for his life and his brand new SUV. It was the result of a run-in back in 1998 with William Balfour - now a "person of interest" in the Hudson family murders.

"It was something else," Charles Gardner said.

But 10 years ago police say Gardner caught Balfour trying to steal his Chevy Suburban.

"I just took off with my shoes off, you know, outside of the house and jumped on top of the truck," Gardner said.

The circuit court file on the case describes Charles Gardner "hanging on top" of the truck while the driver was running through fences, driving down sidewalks - even heading out onto the Dan Ryan expressway.

"It was going up and down the alleys on the speed bumps trying to jump, you know, make the truck jump up to pop me off of the truck," Gardner said.

But police eventually caught up with Balfour. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and car hijacking and was sentenced to a seven-year prison sentence. Balfour was released in May 2006.

The mother of the man who owned that Suburban back in 1998 said Gardner wasn't home tonight. But she did say he has mixed feelings about Balfour's reported ties with the Hudson family case.

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