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| Michael Williams | CPD |
A Rogers Park man is accused of beating up and robbing an autistic man less than a week after being charged with battering another victim during a 7-on-1 mugging in the Far North Side neighborhood, according to court records.
Michael Williams, 18, was arrested Sunday after Chicago police officers pursued him into neighboring Evanston after he ran from them during a stolen vehicle investigation, police said.
Officers were called to the area of Jarvis and Seeley by a witness who reported seeing three men breaking into a red Jeep. Officers said they arrived and saw two men and Williams trying to put cardboard over the vehicle’s broken window.
Williams told cops that the Jeep belonged to his mother, police said, but a check of the license plate revealed that the car had been reported stolen, according to police. Williams allegedly ran from the scene and was arrested a short time later.
He was later identified as the person who punched an autistic man in the face and stole his phone, iPod, and cash on the 7200 block of North Damen last Thursday, prosecutors said.
Williams was charged with felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and criminal trespass to a vehicle. Judge Charles Beach set bail at $3,000 and ordered Williams to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a 10% deposit bond of $300.
Just five days before the autistic man was mugged, Williams was charged with battery after his 45-year-old neighbor identified him as one of seven people who punched and kicked him during a robbery, police said. Williams was released on a recognizance bond in that case.
