A good Samaritan helped cops track down the man who allegedly pushed a senior citizen to the ground and stole his money at a Loop ATM last Monday, prosecutors said.
The victim, 76, was retrieving cash from an ATM at 70 West Randolph when Michael Zuffa forced his hand away from the machine, knocked him to the ground, and robbed him around 12:30 p.m., according to allegations in court records.
Zuffa, who’s 29 and lives in suburban Alsip, allegedly ran from the scene with $300 of the elderly man’s cash — but a witness was hot on his heels.
The witness chased Zuffa and reportedly saw him shed a green sweatshirt before he boarded a #20 Madison bus a few blocks from the robbery scene. Police responded to the good Samaritan’s 911 call and stopped the bus a few moments later on the 300 block of West Madison.
Police said they removed Zuffa from the bus because he matched a description provided by the witness. Zuffa was carrying $280 in $20 bills, police said.
The victim, who lives in Lincoln Park, could not identify Zuffa, according to police. But the witness reportedly did that for him. Cops also recovered a green sweatshirt from the bus stop on Madison Street.
Prosecutors charged Zuffa with felony robbery of a victim over age 60. Judge John Lyke set bail at $75,000 and ordered Zuffa to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a 10% deposit bond.
Police gave the $280 cash that Zuffa was carrying to the alleged robbery victim.
