Man who’s on probation for lakefront robbery is charged with violent hold-up of Buena Park store

Damijia Render | CPD

Prosecutors say a man on probation for robbery attacked a 7-Eleven employee during a violent hold-up in Buena Park on Saturday evening.

Damijia Render, 23, and an accomplice went behind the store counter at 4150 North Broadway around 9:30 p.m., according to prosecutors and police. Render grabbed both of the clerk’s arms and pinned him into a corner while the accomplice collected cigarettes, Assistant State’s Attorney Sergio Gomez said.

When the clerk asked the men to stop, Render hit him in the face, claimed to have a gun, and threatened to shoot him, Gomez said.

As the robbery concluded, Render allegedly took two bottles of alcohol from the store and boarded a Divvy bike. Render struck the clerk with one of the bottles when he tried to stop Render from biking away, Gomez said.

Chicago police located Render at a nearby Red Line station shortly after the robbery. He had 26 packs of cigarettes in a backpack when cops detained him, Gomez said.

The second offender remains at large.

In November 2019, Render was charged with an armed robbery on the lakefront in Hyde Park, according to CPD records. Prosecutors agreed to a deal that resulted in him receiving 30 months probation for the crime from Judge Alfredo Maldonado in February 2020.

On Monday, Judge Maryam Ahmad set bail on the new case at $250,000 and ordered Render to go on electronic monitoring if he can post 10% of that amount. She also ordered Render held without bail until Judge Maldonado reviews the possible probation violation.

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