Chicago — A group of armed men followed a Lakeview man as he walked home from a Wrigleyville bar in January, then attacked and robbed him of his cash and phone, prosecutors said as they announced charges against one man on Monday.
Patric Meredith, 26, was the getaway car’s driver, Assistant State’s Attorney William Lacy said during Meredith’s bail hearing. The vehicle, a Volkswagen, is registered to Meredith, and police have linked it to other burglaries and robberies in the area, according to Lacy. But Meredith is not charged with any other wrongdoing.
CPD officers arrested him shortly after midnight Saturday in the 3500 block of North Clark, just south of Wrigley Field.
Lacy said a member of the group offered to sell the 31-year-old victim drugs as the victim left the bar early on January 21. The victim declined the offer and kept walking.
Surveillance video allegedly showed that the guy who offered to sell the drugs, another man, and Meredith followed the victim down Clark Street as he walked home.
When the victim reached the 3200 block of North Southport, Meredith pulled up in his Volkswagen, and the other two men got out to rob him at gunpoint, said Lacy. Meredith stayed in the car as the other two men displayed a gun, punched the victim in the face and body, and took valuables from his pockets.
Prosecutors asked Judge Susana Ortiz to hold Meredith without bail. But private defense lawyer David Drwencke argued against that, saying Meredith may not have even known that the other two men planned to rob the victim.
Ortiz agreed that a no-bail hold would be inappropriate in Meredith’s case. She ordered him to pay a $15,000 deposit toward bail to go home on electronic monitoring.
He is accused of armed robbery with a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of identification cards. His only previous felony conviction was in 2015 for unlawful use of a weapon.
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