CHICAGO — Two men facing federal charges for robbing an armored car were caught because Brink’s stashed an Apple AirTag inside a bag of currency they stole, according to an FBI agent’s court filing in Chicago.
Even more incredible: one of the men was charged with robbing another Brink’s truck in October of last year, but court records show he went missing and was in fugitive status.
The latest holdup occurred around 9:25 a.m. Tuesday outside Jewel-Osco, 3153 183rd Street, in south suburban Homewood.
In a federal complaint charging Devonte Davis and Darrell Singleton with armed robbery, an FBI agent said two guards stepped out of the Brink’s truck, and one went to the bathroom while the other made a cash pick-up at a bank branch inside the grocery store.
When the guard exited the store with the bank’s money, Singleton approached him from behind with a handgun, pistol-whipped him, and forced him into the armored truck, the agent wrote.
Singleton, 19, allegedly passed items from the truck to Davis, who stood outside: ten deposit bags containing about $50,000 each and seven plastic bins containing about $100,000 each. And that darned AirTag, which investigators tracked to a house in Calumet Park.
Cops surrounded the house and ordered everyone out. Three people emerged: Davis, Davis’ girlfriend, and another man. Police found Singleton hiding in an attic ceiling next to a handgun, the agent said.
Investigators allegedly found “hundreds of thousands of dollars” hidden in the basement ceiling and under the attic insulation. There was a Brink’s deposit slip, Brink’s keys, Brink’s documentation, and, in the basement, a blue Brink’s bag with an AirTag inside.
The agent said Singleton admitted to committing the robbery with Davis. Singleton allegedly told agents that he picked Davis up in Chicago Tuesday morning and then drove around to different locations until they saw the guard walk into Jewel.
Davis initially claimed that he was at the house all day and that two other people showed up at the home with all of the money investigators found, the FBI agent wrote. He later changed his story and said he met up with Singleton after the robbery and rode around, hiding money in different locations.
Federal court filings show that Singleton’s armored car robbery case from last year was put into fugitive status on March 5 and returned to active status on Wednesday.
The October robbery occurred on Halloween morning at an ATM outside Chase Bank, 16767 Torrence Avenue, in south suburban Lansing.
In that case, federal officials said, Singleton, his brother Corrie, and a juvenile confronted a Brink’s courier as he restocked the cash machine near the drive-thru. One robber held a gun to the courier’s head as the crew took $1,025,956 from the machine and the armored truck, an FBI agent wrote in a criminal complaint.