Two Charged With Boystown Mugging (And one of ’em is on parole for TWO other robberies!)

Quick-acting cops snared two suspects after a Tuesday morning robbery in Boystown. And one of the offenders is currently on parole for two separate robbery convictions.

Murphy (L) and Perry | Cook County Sheriff

Tuesday’s victim flagged down cops near Clark and Belmont around 3:40 a.m. to report the robbery and officers detained two suspects moments later near the Belmont Red Line station.

19-year-old Juan Perry of Zion, IL, and 22-year-old Joseph Murphy are each charged with one count of robbery, according to court records.

Murphy was sentenced to four years in prison for robbery in March 2013 and he was given another four years for a separate case in November 2013, according to state records.

Despite all of that, the criminal-friendly State of Illinois decided it would be a good idea to parole Murphy in January of this year, allowing him to victimize yet another innocent citizen on the streets of Chicago.

Murphy lists the Howard Brown Health Center at 4025 N. Sheridan as his “home.”

More Muggings

We’ve recorded three more robberies in the Boystown area over the past week, but only one is known to have been formalized with a police report.

Around 2:20 a.m. on Monday, a man told police that two men approached him near Halsted and Belmont to ask for a cigarette. One of the men then sucker-punched the victim and continued to kick and punch him as he lied on the ground. The robbers went through the man’s pockets, took his wallet and cellphone, then ran westbound toward the Belmont Red Line station.

The victim said his attackers were black, thin, and about 20-years-old. One of the men wore a beige jacket and beanie.

No Report, No Crime

A neighborhood woman told members of the Taking Back Lakeview Facebook group that she was robbed at gunpoint near Briar and Halsted around 2:15 a.m. on November 11.

“I was walking home [and] black Ford pulled up with the two males and [they] pulled out the gun to rob me. They got my wallet and my iPhone. I was less than a block from my place when it happened,” the woman said.

“I didn’t call the police as I was so freaked out by having a gun put to my face…It was especially scary with the fact I was in a short dress and heels that night. I was worried that they might try to rape me. The main thing is that I am glad to be alive and safe but really freaked out by the whole experience,” she said.

The woman, who says she did not file a police report, described her attackers only as two black males in their early 20’s.

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CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets. Our editorial email address is news@cwbchicago.com