Two men have been sentenced to prison for trying to rob an off-duty Chicago police sergeant near the Town Hall (19th) District police station in Lakeview.
Derrick Robie, 24, was on parole for robbery and for stealing the wallet from a dying man at the Loyola Red Line station when he, Dhamarquis Lee, and two juveniles made a critical targeting error around 2:15 a.m. on May 20, 2020.
Prosecutors said that Robie led the crew and ordered the 40-year-old sergeant to get down on the ground on the 900 block of West Addison. But all four offenders ran when the sergeant pulled out a handgun and announced that he was a police officer, according to a CPD spokesperson. The robbery attempt unfolded about 100 yards from the 19th District police station at 850 West Addison.
Officers located the four alleged robbers about 30 minutes later on the 900 block of West Fletcher. Prosecutors said Robie and Lee admitted to being involved in the incident.
According to court records, Robie and Lee both pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery. Lee received a three-year sentence from Judge Catherine Haberkorn. He reported to prison on March 1 and was released the same day after receiving credits for time spent in custody before sentencing.
Robie, who pleaded guilty in November, received a 3½ year sentence from Haberkorn. He was paroled on February 10.
CWBChicago has filed several stories about Robie over the years.
In January 2018, he was charged with robbing a man at the Morse Red Line station. Even though Robie was charged with Class X felony armed robbery, Cook County Judge Stephanie Miller released him on his own recognizance with electronic monitoring.
A few days later, detectives arrested Robie after they determined that he stole a wallet from a man’s pants pocket while the victim lay dying at the Loyola Red Line station earlier in the month. The victim was alone when he fell down the station’s staircase, lost consciousness, and later died, police said at the time. CTA video captured images of Robie and another man rifling through the dying man’s pockets, stealing his wallet, and leaving him without summoning help.
Robie eventually received two concurrent three-year sentences for the crimes. After receiving the state’s standard 50% sentence reduction for good behavior and credit for time served before sentencing, Robie only spent 16 days in prison before he was paroled in those cases, according to state records.
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