CHICAGO — Officials say four men and a juvenile accused of robbing an Uber driver at gunpoint can thank a couple of people for their troubles: the covert Chicago police officer who allegedly saw them commit the robbery and one of their mothers, who identified them for the cops.
Judge Maryam Ahmad detained Renard McGee, 18, of Dekalb, and Chicagoans Lawrence Norwood, 18, Omari Gunn, 19, and Jaquan Martin, 20, as safety threats. A 17-year-old boy is facing charges in juvenile court.
An undercover Chicago police unit assigned to the city’s hijacking task force was working near the intersection of Ohio and Harding when they saw the robbery unfold around 7 a.m. on Sunday, March 24, officials said.
Five robbers pointed three guns, including an AK-47, at a 27-year-old Uber driver. They took his phones and wallet, then returned to a stolen Dodge Charger and fled the scene, according to allegations filed in court.
The undercover unit notified dispatchers and kept the Charger under surveillance with the help of other covert units, marked and unmarked patrol cars, and a CPD helicopter, police arrest reports said.
The Charger stopped in the 5000 block of West Quincy, and the helicopter crew watched them run up a flight of stairs. According to court filings, a woman who lives in that apartment—Omari Gunn’s mother—gave police permission to enter her home.
Cops found six males inside the home, and Gunn’s mother identified the one who was not involved, officials said. The police arrested the other five. They found McGee hiding in a hallway closet, Norwood in the living room, Martin in a bedroom, and Gunn in another bedroom’s closet, according to their arrest reports.
Prosecutors said Norwood was the robber armed with an AK-47, and Gunn received a $250 CashApp transfer from the victim immediately after the robbery. The Dodge Charger, they alleged, had been stolen in Green Bay.
Judge Ahmad’s detention orders for two of the men cited their juvenile backgrounds as a factor that led to their detentions.
Martin was adjudicated delinquent for aggravated robbery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, Ahmad wrote.
Gunn is on juvenile probation for carjacking and was previously adjudicated delinquent for aggravated robbery, according to the judge’s order. Ahmad also pointed out that Gunn’s mother identified the one person in the house who was not involved in the robbery.
All four men and the juvenile are charged with armed robbery with a firearm, two counts of unlawful use of a firearm, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, possessing a defaced firearm, and unlawful use of a weapon.
