Prosecutors say a man who robbed a victim of her phone in Wrigleyville used the stolen phone to order an Uber to take him home, giving police a vital clue as they tried to solve the case.
Zac Prybyl, 24, was charged with felony robbery in the case on Tuesday.
Prybyl and the 21-year-old woman were leaving a bar on the 3500 block of North Clark around 2:30 a.m. on September 11 when the woman saw Prybyl shaking another woman, according to allegations made during Prybyl’s bond court hearing on Tuesday.
When the first woman told Prybyl to stop, he turned his attention to her, grabbed her hair, hit her in the face, knocked her to the ground, and continued to strike her in the face while she was down, Assistant State’s Attorney Sergio Gomez said.
Prybyl grabbed her phone, left the scene, and then used the woman’s device to order an Uber ride to his home address, said Gomez.
The woman suffered a swollen face and bruises to her leg and knee, Gomez said.
Police traced the phone to Prybyl’s house, but their efforts to contact Prybyl failed until recently, according to Gomez. Prybyl turned himself in on Monday.
“There may be some confusion as to what happened or how the incident began,” Assistant Public Defender Suzin Farber said in Prybyl’s defense. She told Judge Charles Beach that Prybyl works as a restaurant manager and has no criminal background.
Beach set bail at $10,000, meaning Prybyl must post $1,000 to get out of jail. The judge also ordered Prybyl to stay in the house from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. while the case is pending.
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