A parolee who allegedly robbed a Lakeview liquor store this week was arrested with the help of another business owner who had the man under surveillance when the hold-up unfolded.
Prosecutors said the owner of a gas station that was recently robbed received word from a colleague Wednesday morning that the man suspected of robbing his service station was in Lakeview.
According to prosecutors, the businessman drove to the area, spotted 30-year-old Cherish Ball, and began following him. He then watched as Ball exited a CTA bus, went into Eastgate Liquors at 446 West Diversey, and robbed the store around 11 a.m. Wednesday, an assistant state’s attorney said.
Ball tried to punch the liquor store clerk, then demanded money while repeatedly threatening to shoot and kill the worker, prosecutors said. After getting cash from the register, Ball allegedly demanded more money, and the clerk told him to take whatever he wanted. The entire incident was reportedly captured on video.
Ball threw the victim’s phone and other items across the store, searched the counter area, and stole a box containing reserve cash, prosecutors alleged.
When the robber walked out, the service station owner followed him and watched the man remove his outer clothing in an alley. He then flagged down responding officers who chased after the suspect.
Police arrested Ball as he emerged from a nursing home that the robber ran into moments earlier. Officers say they found the store’s discarded cash box near the robber’s discarded clothing. Ball was carrying $177 in his pocket — almost exactly the amount the store clerk said was stolen from his register, prosecutors said.
Ball was paroled in August after serving half of a three-year sentence for causing injury while resisting police and theft, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
In 2016, he received a four-year sentence for threatening to shoot and kill a clerk while robbing a West Side cellular store.
He is now charged with aggravated robbery and resisting police in connection with Wednesday’s incident. Judge David Navarro ordered him held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Ball will need to post a $10,000 deposit bond to get out of jail. IDOC officials had not made efforts to revoke Ball’s parole when he appeared in bond court Thursday afternoon.