Chicago — Two men allegedly robbed, carjacked, and kidnapped a man from the Rivers Casino parking lot in suburban Des Plaines this week, and prosecutors said casino security drove by as the robbery was in progress.
Kadeem Burton, 32, and Curtis Rollins, 31, were held without bail by Judge Mary Marubio during a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on Saturday.
Casino security video allegedly shows Burton and Rollins getting out of an SUV and walking around the parking lot around 12:38 a.m. Wednesday. About four minutes later, the victim pulled into the lot and parked.
As he opened his car door, Rollins put a gun to his face and told him to hand over his money, prosecutor Gabriella Morris said. Rollins allegedly took the man’s Bluetooth from his ear, took his phone, and removed cash and keys from the victim’s pocket.
“How do you come to a casino with only $5?” Rollins allegedly asked, growing irate.
At that point, Burton approached the car, and someone punched the victim in the face, Morris continued. The man then took out a wallet that contained $1,900 in a secret compartment and handed it over to the men, she said.
Burton walked away when a casino security patrol passed by, but Rollins ordered the victim to slide into the passenger seat as Rollins got behind the wheel, according to Morris.
Rollins drove the man across the street to the Rosemont Village Hall parking garage and left him there, dumping the victim’s keys and phone on a nearby car, Morris said. The victim waited a few minutes, then ran across the street and sought help from casino security.
Morris said the robbery was captured on casino security video. So was the license plate of the SUV that dropped Burton and Rollins off before the crime, she said.
Police spotted the SUV on River Road about an hour after the robbery and pulled it over. Burton, seated in the front passenger seat, was identified by police by his clothing, and officers found the victim’s house keys in the vehicle’s center console, Morris said. Two other people in the car were also taken into custody for questioning.
According to Morris, detectives were “given information” during the interviews that led them to Rollins.
He has felony convictions from 2015 for operating a continuing financial crime enterprise and a 2018 conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, Morris said. His public defender noted that he was not in the SUV that police stopped, and officers never found the gun that prosecutors said he brandished.
Burton has no criminal convictions. His lawyer said he works as a full-time security guard and noted that he is not accused of having a gun or driving the victim to the Rosemont Village Hall.
Both men are scheduled to be in court again on January 10. They are both charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking, kidnapping, and armed robbery.
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