Homicide Victim at Old Orchard Parking Garage Recently Arrested in Texas Transporting 51 LBS of Marijuana

Skokie police and firefighter/paramedics responded about 1:33 p.m. Saturday to a report of a man found bleeding from the head in a stairwell at a parking garage of the Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie.

An employee called 9-1-1 at 1:33 p.m. to report the man down in the mall parking garage at 4967 Old Orchard Center, according to Skokie police.

Police and firefighter/paramedics found a 34-year-old man who was found fatally shot in the head in the stairwell. The death was ruled a homicide, according to police.

The victim was identified as Eric P. Cybak, who died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

No suspects were in custody Sunday afternoon, and no suspect description has been released.

Skokie police claim the murder was not random, the mall “was not targeted as a location for the crime” and that the public is not at risk.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Cybak, of Milbrae California (just south of San Francisco) was stopped for a traffic violation while traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 near Groom, Texas on Friday May 5, 2017.

During the traffic stop, the Texas Department of Public Safety trooper discovered several vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana totaling 51 pound inside luggage in the trunk of the 2017 Hyundai Sonata that Cybak was driving. DPS estimated the marijuana was worth approximately $309,000. Cybak was arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana, and was transported and booked at the Carson County jail.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the marijuana was alleged to have been in transit from San Francisco to Chicago.

Carson County Sheriffs Office (Texas) confirmed Cybak was booked into the Carson County Jail, posted a $25,000 bond, and was released the following day.

The North Regional Major Crimes Task Force (NORTAF) is assisting Skokie police with the investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call Skokie police at 847-982-5900 or 847-933-8477 or text Skokie and a tip to 847411.

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