Prosecutors say a man with an extensive juvenile record, including two pending robbery cases, robbed a 15-year-old who was riding home from school on the Red Line earlier this month. Chicago police identified Rashaun Teague, 18, as the robber after someone saw a CPD bulletin about yet another CTA robbery and thought the suspect looked like Teague, according to prosecutors.
The 15-year-old was riding a southbound Red Line train around 8:15 p.m. on September 7 when Teague and two other men asked what he was doing and then grabbed his phone and rifled through his backpack looking for valuables, prosecutor Kenneth Flesch said.
Teague threatened to beat or shoot the boy if he did not cooperate with the robbers, according to Flesch.
All three robbers exited at 69th Street, and the teenager contacted police.
Less than a week later, Chicago police released surveillance images of a group of suspects who attacked and robbed a family at the 95th Street Red Line station on August 29. Someone who saw the suspects during an ABC7 news broadcast contacted police to report that one of the men, who was wearing a red shirt, appeared to be Rashaun Teague, Flesch said.
Detectives pulled up the August 29 bulletin and realized that Teague appeared to be the person who robbed the 15-year-old. They put Teague’s photo in a line-up, and the boy identified Teague as one of the robbers, according to Flesch.
Teague has not been charged with the 95th Street robbery.
Flesch said Teague has two pending cases in juvenile court. He faces four counts of robbery in one and three counts of robbery in the other. Teague was adjudicated delinquent for aggravated battery this year, and for robbery and aggravated battery last year, Flesch said.
“Without discounting the matter at hand, judge, my client’s been through a lot,” Teague’s public defender told Judge Maryam Ahmad during a bail hearing Friday. The lawyer said that Teague lives with foster parents and is attending high school.
Ahmad was not swayed by the defense.
“Two cases pending. Armed robbery, Class X felony, in juvenile… Second case pending in juvenile court. Armed robbery,” Ahmad recalled. “So he’s looking at two pending Class X felonies.”
She ordered Teague to pay a $25,000 bail deposit to get out of jail on electronic monitoring.
“Cook County jail has a school,” Ahmad noted, “So [Teague] will be able to continue his studies if he is unable to post this bond.”
Schooled
Coincidentally, a man who teaches at the Cook County jail also appeared before Ahmad during Friday’s felony bail session for allegedly smuggling cigarettes and cannabinoid-infused paper into the facility.
Michael Mitchell is charged with one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution.
Sheriff’s investigators searched Mitchell’s bag when he arrived for work on June 6 after reviewing an inmate’s recorded jail calls and learning that Mitchell might be bringing barred items into the jail.
Prosecutors say that authorities found 20 cigarettes wrapped in cellophane and an envelope with papers that tested positive for MDMB.
Mitchell allegedly told investigators that he received the items and $400 from an inmate’s relative. He claimed that he thought he was “picking up papers for the inmate to draw on and the cigarettes,” Assistant State’s Attorney Eugene Goroshko said.
Ahmad released Mitchell on his own recognizance.
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