CHICAGO — A six-time felon robbed a Streeterville man at gunpoint in a residential parking garage, then forced the victim to take him to his apartment and surrender his phone’s financial app passwords, prosecutors said Thursday.
It happened around 4 a.m. on December 29 in the 600 block of North McClurg.
After starting his car in the garage, the victim returned to his apartment to get his phone, which he had forgotten. When he returned to the garage, his car had been turned off, and, much to his surprise, a man stepped out of the car’s driver’s seat when he opened the door.
The stranger, identified by prosecutors as 28-year-old Anthony Morris, pulled out a gun and demanded the victim’s phone. Then, after the victim claimed to have left the phone in his apartment, the robber ordered him to get it. And Morris followed him the entire way, holding the gun, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt said during Morris’ bail hearing.
At the apartment, Morris allegedly put one foot in the door to keep it from closing and took the man’s phone.
Prosecutors said he continued to hold the victim at gunpoint and forced him to return to the parking garage. There, Morris pointed a gun at the victim’s forehead and ordered him to unlock his phone and change the facial recognition feature so the device would open upon detecting Morris’ face, Dale-Schmidt alleged.
Morris used the victim’s phone to transfer about $8,000 from the victim’s PayPal, CashApp, and Apple Cash accounts to his own, Dale-Schmidt said. Chicago police later learned that money went to an account associated with an email address that is a variation of Morris’ name.
Prosecutors charged Morris with armed robbery with a firearm and kidnapping with a firearm.
Dale-Schmidt said he has active warrants in Wisconsin and Lake County and an aggravated battery case pending locally. His Illinois felony convictions include burglary, theft, and possessing a stolen motor vehicle (twice). In 2016, he was convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle and felony obstruction in Utah, she said.
But his defense attorney painted a different picture, saying Morris, who has a 10-month-old daughter, attends church every Sunday.
Judge David Kelly held Morris without bail at the state’s request.