CHICAGO — An eleven-time convicted felon stands accused of robbing two people at gunpoint near the Division Blue Line station this week. But officials say his plan went awry when he crashed his getaway car as police were responding to the call.
Judge David Kelly held Eddie Smith, 40, without bail during a bond hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutor Sara Dale-Schmidt told Kelly that Smith targeted a man and woman as they walked in the 1600 block of West Haddon around 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Smith pointed a gun at the woman and demanded her purse, then turned the weapon on the man and took his wallet, she said.
Chicago police officers responding to the robbery call had to swerve to avoid being hit by Smith, who maneuvered his car “directly toward” their squad car, according to Dale-Schmidt. The other crashed nearby and became disabled.
Cops ordered Smith out of the vehicle’s driver’s seat and discovered a loaded handgun under the wrecked car, Dale-Schmidt said. The woman’s purse was inside the vehicle.
Officials said all eleven of Smith’s felony convictions were for narcotics charges, most recently in 2017.
Smith has worked full-time for almost a decade and supports his mother and two children, according to his public defender.
He is charged with two counts of armed robbery with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
