CHICAGO — A Chicago man robbed a couple at gunpoint of their wallets and rosary beads while threatening to “blow their brains out” as their two young daughters looked on, officials said Monday.
Osvaldo Pina Carlin, 19, was ordered held without bail during a bond hearing Monday by Judge David Kelly on two counts of armed robbery with a firearm.
The robbery unfolded as the couple, a 35-year-old man and his 26-year-old girlfriend, entered their car with their two daughters after attending an eighth-grade graduation party in the 4800 block of South Marshfield around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Carlin pulled up next to the family’s car and began flashing gang signs, Assistant State’s Attorney Victor Aberdeen told the judge. When the family ignored him, he rolled down his window and flashed more signs.
After one of the adults began making a phone call, Carlin got out of his car, flashed a gun, and threatened to “blow their brains out” if they called the police, Aberdeen alleged. As the children sat in the back of the family’s car, Carlin allegedly ordered the adults to turn over their wallets and rosary beads.
Aberdeen said Carlin began to drive away but stopped, warned the couple that he knew their car’s license plate number, and again threatened to “blow their brains out if they contacted the police.”
The victims called 911 after they arrived home, and Chicago police found Carlin in his vehicle with three of their bank cards, Aberdeen said.
Carlin has been on probation since May 1 for unlawful use of a weapon, a charge he picked up after passersby reported seeing a man flashing a gun at passing cars last year, according to officials.
As a juvenile in 2021, he was adjudicated delinquent for aggravated robbery after he and an accomplice robbed a man at gunpoint in an alley, Aberdeen said.
During Monday’s hearing, an assistant public defender said that Carlin is a high school senior with his family and two-year-old daughter. He works in a candy factory, attends church every week, and helps clean up a local park, the lawyer said.