CHICAGO — A five-time convicted felon is accused of robbing a good Samaritan who agreed to give him money so he could get on a train in downtown Chicago.
The victim, a 31-year-old man, was walking in the 400 block of South Clark shortly after midnight on Tuesday when Rodney Latimer asked him for money to get on the CTA, according to prosecutors. The man agreed to give him $5.
But as the victim went into his wallet to get the cash, Latimer knocked the billfold to the ground, then walked away with it, according to prosecutors. The wallet contained about $200 and the man’s credit cards.
But the victim didn’t give up easily. He followed Latimer to the LaSalle Blue Line station and called the police. CTA video shows Latimer going through the man’s wallet and tossing it onto the train tracks, prosecutors said during Latimer’s bail hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
Chicago police arrested Latimer on the platform. He is charged with robbery.
Prosecutors said he has two misdemeanor cases pending. His felony convictions include aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in 2021 and burglaries in 2013 and 2010.
Judge David Kelly ordered him to pay a $7,500 bail deposit to go home on electronic monitoring.
