CHICAGO — Prosecutors on Thursday charged a Chicago man with robbing seven women in less than an hour in Lincoln Park on the Fourth of July.
Chicago police arrested Tony Davis, 23, less than an hour after the last robbery when he crashed a carjacked SUV on the West Side. Cops allegedly found proceeds from several robbery victims inside the vehicle and in Davis’ possession after the crash, but he was not initially charged with the holdups. Since then, he has been jailed on carjacking charges, unable to raise a $30,000 bail deposit.
Davis and an accomplice hijacked the silver Toyota RAV4 late on July 3 as the victim returned home in Chinatown, prosecutors said last month. About 30 minutes later, around midnight on Independence Day, a series of robberies broke out in Lincoln Park.
‘I am going to shoot you, little girl’
The muggings began in the 2000 block of North Howe. Two women, ages 26 and 27, said Davis and an accomplice exited a silver SUV and confronted them on the street.
“I am going to shoot you, little girl. Don’t be an idiot. Give me your phone,” Davis allegedly told one woman as he indicated that he had a gun in his pocket.
Davis took the woman’s keys, credit cards, iPods, earrings, and sunglasses, Assistant State’s Attorney Alexander Konetzki said, according to a transcript of the hearing.
But Davis returned the second victim’s phone because it was “not worth much,” Konetzki alleged.
Moments later, a 23-year-old woman was robbed in the 800 block of West Belden by two men who crept up behind her in a silver SUV. Konetzi said Davis stayed in the vehicle while an accomplice got out to rob the woman, threatening to shoot her as he did.
Shortly after midnight, Davis and the accomplice allegedly robbed three women in the 2200 block of North Geneva Terrace.
Four women who live in the same apartment building were walking home when the silver SUV pulled up quickly, and Davis hopped out of the passenger seat, Konetzki said.
One of the women ran away and called 911. But the other three, all in their 20s, weren’t as fortunate.
Davis tried to pull a crossbody bag from one of the women, but it wouldn’t come off, and he slammed her to the ground, breaking her tibia, said Konetzki.
Once she was down, he allegedly pulled out a small handgun and demanded her property. The woman later told police that she felt a hard metal object pressed to the back of her head while she was down.
That woman is still using crutches as she recovers from her injuries, Konetzki said.
Meanwhile, Davis’ accomplice exited the SUV’s driver’s seat and tried to take a similar bag from one of the other victims. She was also thrown to the ground.
Davis stopped the third woman from calling 911. She handed him her bag and phone and noted the SUV’s license plate number, according to Konetzki.
Both robbers sat in the SUV for about a minute, sifting through the women’s property, then drove away. Cops later found items belonging to all three women either inside the SUV or in Davis’ pockets, Konetzki said.
The men next robbed two 19-year-olds sitting on a curb after leaving a party in the 2200 block of North Burling.
This story is made possible by contributions to the Cook County Courtroom Transparency Fund.
Finally, a woman walking home from the Fullerton CTA station saw a man standing outside an SUV in the 800 block of West Fullerton, looking through a bag. The man approached her with his hand in his hoodie pocket and barked, “Give me all you got.”
She gave him her phone, wallet, keys, and passport. Konetzki said the passport and keys were found in the silver SUV after Davis crashed the vehicle about 45 minutes later.
Davis’ defense attorney on Thursday, Malory Hudson, said he had been acting as the caretaker of his elderly grandmother and his 6-year-old son before he got arrested last month.
Judge Susana Ortiz granted the state’s request to hold Davis without bail. He is charged with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm, three counts of aggravated robbery, robbery, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Weeks of robberies
The crimes Davis is charged with occurred amid a surge in robbery reports in Lincoln Park. Among the robberies that remain unsolved:
- A little before 11 p.m. on May 28, a woman called 911 to report that two men tried to rob her and a friend as they sat on a bench in Oz Park. The woman who called for help bolted from the park, leaving her friend behind.
- About 20 minutes later, a 26-year-old woman was knocked to the ground and robbed in the 2200 block of North Sheffield, according to CPD. The offender escaped in a light-colored vehicle.
- Two DePaul students, ages 19 and 20, were robbed at gunpoint in the 1300 block of West Fullerton around 4:15 a.m. on May 29. The men were walking when two offenders exited a black car to rob them. After the holdup, the victims went to University Hall, a DePaul residence hall, and a security officer called 911, identifying them as students.
- A 37-year-old woman was carjacked by two men who implied they had weapons at 11:39 p.m. on May 29, police said. She was getting into her car in the 2300 block of North Halsted, directly in front of DePaul’s School of Music building, when they took her black Volkswagen Jetta.
- On June 1, four young women were robbed while walking together in Lincoln Park shortly after midnight in the 700 block of West Webster, Chicago police said. A robber punched one woman in the face. One of them tried to run away, but she fell to the ground, and a robber grabbed her buttocks, then proceeded with the robbery, police said.
Other robberies that remain under investigation include:
Monday, June 12, 4:23 p.m.
A 26-year-old woman told police she was robbed while walking in the 600 block of West Armitage. The robber approached her from behind, pushed her, and took her phone. Then he escaped in a white four-door sedan, according to a CPD spokesperson.
Monday, June 12, 4:30 p.m.
A 19-year-old DePaul student was walking in the 2200 block of North Lincoln when a robber came up behind him around 4:30 p.m., according to CPD. He told police that the robber implied that he had a gun and demanded his property, which the victim turned over.
Monday, June 12, 4:32 p.m.
Another woman was targeted as she walked in the 2200 block of North Geneva Terrace. The 30-year-old said the offender came up from behind and took her phone. He also fled in a white sedan, police said.
Thursday, June 22, 11:30 p.m.
Chicago police said a 76-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were standing in the 2200 block of North Cleveland when two robbers walked up and said they had a gun. They demanded the victims’ property but ran away after the man swung his briefcase at them, a CPD spokesperson said.
Thursday, June 22, 11:35 p.m.
A man and woman were robbed in the 400 block of West Grant. They told police they were walking when two male robbers confronted them and implied they had a firearm, police said. The victims handed over their property to the offenders, who ran eastbound.
Thursday, June 22, approximately 11:35 p.m.
A robbery was reported in the 700 block of West Belden. No other details were available.
Thursday, June 29, 12:10 a.m.
A dark SUV blocked the path of a woman as she drove near Belden and Geneva Terrace. A gunman exited the SUV and confronted the woman. After robbing her of her belongings, he drove away with her car, police said.
Thursday, June 29, 12:35 a.m.
A woman was robbed on the street in the 1000 block of West Armitage. No further information was available at the time of publication.
Thursday, June 29, 12:43 a.m.
Two vehicles pulled up next to a man sitting in his car in the 1400 block of West Fullerton. He said two men got out of each vehicle and displayed a firearm. The group “began to damage the victim’s vehicle from the outside,” a CPD spokesperson said, and a fight broke out when the victim’s friend showed up to help him.
An officer at the scene said the men broke out all of the victim’s car windows but didn’t get anything from him. They fled in one of the vehicles they drove to the scene, leaving behind a Nissan Rogue carjacked from the 300 block of West 24th Street. The Rogue may have also been used in the robbery above.
Thursday, June 29, 12:45 a.m.
A DePaul student was robbed in the 2200 block of North Fremont. She was walking when a man demanded her property while armed with a weapon. She said she thought the weapon may have been a Tazer because she heard a crackling noise, the school’s public safety office said in an email to the DePaul community. The school’s message said the robbery occurred in the 900 block of West Webster.