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| Gino Bassett Sr (inset) stabbed a man to death in this River North alley, prosecutors said. | CPD; Google |
A Woodlawn man charged Friday with stabbing a man to death in River North last month has a lengthy criminal history that includes robbery and threatening people with knives on the street, according to court records.
Early on March 23, 58-year-old Gino Bassett Sr saw software executive Miguel Beedle standing outside of a River North bar holding cash, prosecutors said yesterday. Surveillance video showed Bassett looking at Beedle from across the street. Later, Bassett is seen following Beedle into a nearby alley and pushing him forward, according to prosecutors.
That’s when Bassett allegedly stabbed Beedle in the neck before fleeing to the nearby Grand Red Line station. Video shows 55-year-old Beedle walking out of the alley, holding his neck, and collapsing at the corner of State and Hubbard. He died minutes later.
At the CTA station, Bassett threatened two women with his knife and then boarded a train where cameras captured images of him counting money, sorting credit cards, and holding a knife, prosecutors said. After the murder, Bassett fled to New York, according to prosecutors. He was arrested at Union Station when he returned this week.
At Bassett’s home, police allegedly recovered a bloody knife with a five-inch blade and a coat matching one that Bassett is seen wearing on CTA footage.
Bassett is charged with one count of felony murder and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Additional charges, including robbery, are expected to be submitted to a grand jury. Judge Michael Clancy ordered him held without bail.
Bassett’s defense attorney yesterday said that he suffers from mental disorders, including schizophrenia.
Neighborhood Menace
Rico Diaz, Tom Thomas, Terry Hart, Jimmy Brooks, and Reggie Anderson are just some of the nearly 20 aliases Bassett has assumed in 89 criminal cases since 1984. Six of the cases resulted in prison time:
• One year for narcotics in 1996
• Five years for burglary in 1998
• One year for retail theft in 2001
• Three years for burglary in 2003
• Nine years for armed robbery of a Near North gas station at knifepoint in 2007
• Three years for battering a cop outside the Grand Red Line station in 2014.
Bassett has continued to collect arrests since his most recent prison stint.
Ominously, in January 2015, he was charged with threatening a man with a box cutter as the victim stood outside of a bar in the 400 block of North Clark Street. Bassett was on parole at the time. Judge Clarence Burch sentenced him to 30 days.
In September 2015, Bassett was convicted of criminal trespass to vehicle and theft of lost or mislaid property after police found him inside a stolen car near Clark and Division. He was carrying an iPad that did not belong to him or to the car’s owner. Judge Burch sentenced him to two days time served.
Other cases followed. Most recently, Bassett was arrested in Lakeview after he stole four bottles of Jack Daniels and battered a store worker at Walgreens, 2817 North Clark, in January. He was sentenced to two days time served.
