CHICAGO — Two men, including one who should have been home on electronic monitoring, committed a robbery in the city, robbing victims from 79th Street to Lakeview and Uptown before ultimately being arrested at the Addison Red Line station, said officials.
Bryant Robinson and Jerome Jackson, both 20, are each charged with four counts of theft and one count of aggravated battery in a public place.
Prosecutors said Robinson, Jackson and at least two others began their two-hour crime spree Friday around 10 p.m. at the 79th Street Red Line station, getting away with the victim’s Beats headphones.
After taking the Red Line north, the group allegedly robbed a 57-year-old man in the 4200 block of North Clarendon. He told police that four men surrounded him as he walked, and Robinson searched his pockets for valuables. Robinson took the man’s money from his wallet, threw the wallet on the ground and fled, according to a Chicago police report.
The group also robbed a 26-year-old woman in the 3200 block of North Pine Grove. When her boyfriend tried to intervene, Robinson lifted his shirt so that what appeared to be a firearm was in his waistband, the report said.
In the 600 block of West Waveland, crews grabbed a man by the throat, dragged him between planters and parked cars and forced him to his knees as they robbed him, officials said.
A Chicago Police surveillance cameraman saw four people matching the suspects’ descriptions enter the Addison Red Line station a short time later. Officers came in and arrested them. Officers reportedly recovered a pistol-shaped Tazer from the crew.
Prosecutors asked Judge David Kelly to detain both men, but the judge only agreed to keep Robinson in custody pending trial.
According to court records, Robinson has been arrested two more times in recent weeks.
On September 23, police responded to the 35th Street Red Line station after a group of men robbed an 18-year-old man and took his phone and bookbag on the platform. CPD officers followed the suspects to the 79th Street Red Line station and detained Robinson, according to an arrest report.
The victim could not identify Robinson as one of the robbers, so Robinson was never charged with the crime, the report said. However, police charged Robinson with reckless endangerment and theft of services for allegedly jumping a CTA turnstile and chasing and striking the robbery victim.
He was summoned and released from the police station.
A month later, on Oct. 22, police arrested Robinson on charges of assault and obstruction of identification in the 5100 block of North Long. Judge Susana Ortiz placed him under electronic court monitoring with a curfew, according to records.
