A second youth has been charged in connection with one of the robberies linked to a Maserati driver crew that ran through the city center in March and struck repeatedly, often in broad daylight.
The crew has gone quiet since CPD announced that a 17-year-old boy had been charged in connection with two of the robberies, leaving at least three accomplices on the streets.
Now a second suspect has been charged, a 15-year-old who was arrested Monday at the Cook County Juvenile Justice Center, a detail that suggests he has other legal troubles in addition to this case.
Like the 17-year-old, the boy was part of the team that robbed two men, ages 25 and 47, in the 400 block of West Erie Street in River North around 6 a.m. on March 17, CPD said. The victims were standing in the street when a dark-colored vehicle stopped. Several men got out, pulled out firearms and demanded their property at gunpoint, a CPD spokesperson said. The perpetrators fled north onto Kingsbury Street. There were no injuries.
Both young people are suspected of two armed robberies with a firearm.
About 30 minutes before the robbery on Erie Street, four armed men confronted a man in the 1200 block of West Flournoy Street on the Near West Side, a neighborhood the crews had not previously targeted. The men struck the victim in the head with one of their firearms and took his wallet and phone before fleeing in a black SUV, according to a preliminary CPD report. The injured man walked to a nearby home, knocked on the door and asked the resident to call for help. CPD previously linked the Flournoy and Erie incidents in a community alert.
The crew’s activity dates back at least to early March. Police say the victims were robbed on March 8 at 5:25 a.m. in the 300 block of East Chicago Avenue, and on March 15 at 4 a.m. in the first block of West Walton Street. In those cases, the victims lost luxury watches, jewelry, wallets, clothing and purses. In at least one case, police say, perpetrators deliberately rear-ended a victim’s car as a ruse to get close to them.
One of the most brutal crew-related incidents occurred on March 16 at 4:40 p.m. in the 100 block of East Chestnut Street. A 64-year-old man had just gotten out of his car when a black SUV, possibly a Maserati, pulled up with four men on board. Three of them got out, displayed rifles and pistols and took the man’s wallet, a luxury watch and a bag that, according to a preliminary police report, contained firearms. The crew then turned their weapons on two bystanders, a 58-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man, although they left without taking anything from them. CCTV footage showed the SUV traveling north on Rush Street before returning to Chicago Avenue and heading south on Lake Shore Drive.
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