A woman’s casual encounter with a passerby turned into a complete nightmare Saturday when a friendly exchange of phone numbers devolved into and physical attack and robbery in Lakeview, according to prosecutors. Now, two men — both of whom have histories of robbery in the neighborhood — are charged with the attack.
It all started as the 23-year-old woman enjoyed some food on a Lakeview bar’s sidewalk cafe Saturday, prosecutors said in bond court. That’s when 31-year-old Devin White and 26-year-old Germaine Hampton started chatting her up. They’d never met before. White flirted with the woman. They exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet later, according to prosecutors. Then, the two men went on their way.
Here’s what happened later in the evening, according to the state’s allegations:
The woman, White, and Hampton got together as planned. They went to a Lakeview park where they drank and smoked pot. Hampton offered to sell her some cocaine and the woman decided the offer sounded like a good idea. So, the three started walking to Hampton’s place to complete the deal.
But the walk kept getting longer, and the woman, growing uneasy, told the men she was going to go home. It was about 9:40 p.m.
White put his arm around the woman and led her into an alley on the 3000 block of North Kenmore. Hampton pushed the woman against a wall, fought for control of her purse, and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t give it up. He then took about $160 from the woman’s handbag.
Hampton then told the woman that, because she fought with him, he was going to make her go to an ATM to get more money. He threatened to shoot her if she said anything to anyone as they all walked to the Chase Bank at 3032 North Clark.
As the men walked the woman near the 3100 block of North Sheffield, a passerby approached. The woman lowered her mask and silently mouthed the words “help me, call police.” The passerby did precisely that.
Before long, another woman approached the threesome. She told White and Hampton that the passerby had called police. Then, the woman punched the victim in the head and accused her of having sex with Hampton. Stunned, the victim said she didn’t even know Hampton and, in fact, he was in the process of robbing her. The woman told the victim to run. She did.
Hampton chased the victim down while threatening to shoot her if she didn’t stop running. The victim injured her ankle, and Hampton caught up with her. The three continued to the bank, where Hampton ordered her to withdraw $1,500. But the woman only had $700.
Police rolled up to the bank as she took money out of the ATM. Hampton ran into the parking lot of a nearby Walgreens and hid under a car. Cops arrested White at the bank.
White is on probation for escaping electronic monitoring and for robbing the same Walgreens where Hampton ran to hide.
At the time of the incident, Hampton was on bond for retail theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and trespassing, prosecutors said. He has previous convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and burglary.
Prosecutors charged both men with felony aggravated robbery and felony unlawful restraint.
Judge John Lyke set bail for both men at $150,000 and ordered them to go onto electronic monitoring if they’re able to post a $15,000 deposit bond. Lyke also ordered White held without bail for violating the terms of probation in the previous robbery case.
“While [White] is presumed innocent,” Lyke said, “It appears he’s at it again.”
Hampton came very close to being charged with robbing a man at the Belmont Red Line station during the 2017 Chicago Pride Parade.
Several witnesses confirmed they saw him rob a man near the packed train station. Cops chased him down. They had to taze him to get him under control, police said. And the victim identified him too. But the victim decided not to pursue charges after police returned his allegedly stolen jewelry from Hampton’s possession.
Ironically, Hampton’s 2017 arrest took place on the 3100 block of North Kenmore — less than a block from the alley where he and White allegedly robbed the woman of her purse Saturday.
