A Chicago man charged with committing two robberies on the CTA after his mother saw him in a CPD publicity bulletin and turned him in has been sentenced to eight years.
Trequan Jackson Young, 20, pleaded guilty to armed robbery in exchange for the sentence from Judge Steven Watkins on Thursday, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped one of the robbery cases completely in Young’s plea agreement.
The first robbery occurred on a Red Line train near 47th Street around 2:26 a.m. on June 6, 2022. Prosecutors said a 23-year-old man was riding home when four men, including Young, stood near him, and one of the men asked to use his vape cigarette. The victim obliged, but the man refused to return the vape, and the entire group closed in on the victim.
Prosecutors said all four robbers beat the victim in the face and patted him down for valuables. One of the robbers took the victim’s wallet. The group continued to beat the man in the face as they tried to wrestle away his fanny pack, but the man refused to give it up.
Bleeding from his face from the attack, the victim hit the train’s emergency button and went to the conductor for help. While the victim waited for police on the platform, one of the offenders returned and lunged at him repeatedly with a knife, but the victim evaded the attack and was not stabbed.
Chicago police released surveillance images of the robbery suspects to the media the next day. Prosecutors said Young’s mother recognized him and notified the police.
Before police caught up with him, he was allegedly involved in another robbery at the Roosevelt station.
Prosecutors said two men approached a victim they recognized near the turnstiles and began punching and pushing him until his bag fell to the ground. One of the men picked up the bag, went through it, and tossed it to the second man as Young stood nearby.
Young was arrested a few days later at the Jackson Red Line station after he took his girlfriend’s phone and refused to give it back, prompting her to pull out a knife and demand its return, according to a CPD report. A federal law enforcement officer saw the incident and detained Young until Chicago police arrived, the police report said.
Young pleaded guilty to the 47th Street robbery this week, and prosecutors dropped charges related to the Roosevelt Red Line incident, according to court records.
Another man, Camron Gill, 20, pleaded guilty to armed robbery charges in the 47th Street case earlier this year. He received a six-year sentence.
Officials have not released Young’s anticipated parole date. He will, however, receive a 50% reduction in his eight-year sentence for good behavior. He will also receive 423 days of credit earned before pleading.
