Update January 15, 2021: Harris pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful restraint in exchange for a two-year sentence, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped a robbery count as part of the plea agreement. Judge Timothy Joyce oversaw the case.
Police used taxi cab transactions on a robbery victim’s stolen credit card to track down one of two offenders who robbed the woman outside Water Tower Place last week, according to prosecutors.
Lecretia Harris, 29, was charged with felony robbery Saturday in connection with the mugging at 835 North Michigan on August 14.
Prosecutors said the 26-year-old victim was walking with her nanny and her baby when Harris and another man who remains at-large slowed her down and had an “interaction.” Afterward, the woman noticed that her purse had become unbuttoned and her wallet was gone.
The woman ran to catch up with Harris and the man, then tried to stop them. When she pulled out her phone to call police, the man punched her in the chest while Harris knocked the phone out of her hand and threw it onto the sidewalk, prosecutors said.
The victim picked up her phone and began recording Harris and the man before she went to a nearby store to call 911.
Officers reviewed the woman’s video and learned of a taxi cab transaction that went on one of the victim’s stolen credit cards shortly after the robbery. Detectives tracked the transaction to Harris and the victim later identified Harris in a photo lineup, prosecutors said.
Security cameras on Michigan Avenue captured parts of the robbery, according to statements made in court Saturday. Police know the identity of the man who was allegedly involved.
Harris has three prior felony convictions for aggravated battery, aggravated identity theft, and theft, according to state records.
Judge John Lyke ordered Harris held without bail for violating the terms of bond in a pending domestic violence case, He set bail in the robbery at $80,000. If Harris resolves the no-bail order, she can go home on electronic monitoring by posting an $8,000 deposit bond.
