A second person has been charged in connection with a violent robbery aboard a Red Line train downtown in March. Prosecutors charged Tiarra Berry, 19, on Wednesday with robbery and aggravated battery on a transit passenger. After hearing the allegations, Judge Barbara Dawkins said Berry could be released on electronic monitoring after she paid a $2,000 deposit toward bail.
In March, Christopher Bennett, 18, was charged with the robbery and other two hold-ups on the CTA. Prosecutors said he told investigators at the time that he committed crimes such as train robberies “because I’m f*cked up.”
Berry, Bennett, and four or five other teens boarded a Red Line train at North-Clybourn around 9 p.m. on March 1, along with an 18-year-old man they would soon rob, according to prosecutors. When the victim pulled out his phone to respond to a text message on the train, Bennet grabbed it and ran away while Berry and the others beat the victim with their fists, causing him to fall to the ground, according to prosecutors.
All of the robbers fled the train at Grand. A few days later, Chicago police released surveillance images of three suspects. Prosecutors said “a friend” of Berry’s identified her to police.
On the night of the attack, CPD said the victim and a 44-year-old man were on the Red Line when the offenders physically attacked them and went through their pockets to take valuables at the Chicago station. EMS took both victims to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to be treated for minor bruising and pain, according to CPD police. However, Bennet and Berry are only charged with targeting the 18-year-old.
According to prosecutors, Berry had outstanding bond forfeiture warrants for failure to appear in misdemeanor court for battery and theft cases. She was also adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile, but an assistant state’s attorney told the judge he couldn’t tell whether the case was resolved as a battery or a robbery.
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