CHICAGO — The daring and violent robbery was shocking for many reasons. It was daylight. It was Bucktown, one of Chicago’s safer neighborhoods. It was a sneak attack. And it was caught on video.
Now, one of the attackers, a five-time felon, has been handed a 4½-year sentence.
It was Karl Michalak’s first day at his new job at Red Eye Eyewear. The 33-year-old was on lunch break, munching on a slice of 7-Eleven pizza as he returned to the store on September 25, 2023.
As he strolled through an alley in the 2000 block of North Damen, a man ran up from behind and clocked him in the head. He fell against a chainlink fence as the assailant continued to throw punches, knocking him to the ground. A second offender joined in, and they eventually escaped with Michalak’s phone and shoulder bag. Officials said he went to the hospital for treatment the next day.
Surveillance video, first provided to CWBChicago, spread worldwide. Our Twitter post alone racked up a million views within hours.
In a year that saw robbery reports balloon 24% citywide, Chicagoans sympathized with Michalak. But the outrage faded, and the city moved on. The case appeared to be headed toward the “unsolved” file. That’s where most of this town’s robberies end up.
Very few people knew this: Chicago police investigators had gathered swabs of genetic material and sent them out for DNA analysis. They generated a hit: 34-year-old Andre Simmons.
Prosecutors said he was the brute who scurried up behind Michalak to deliver a sucker punch. Simmons had been released from parole barely three months before the attack. That case accused him of battering a police officer, according to court records.
After cops arrested Simmons, he allegedly told investigators the assault was only supposed to be “an ass whooping.”
Simmons, who pleaded guilty to robbery for the attack, is now serving out a 54-month sentence handed down by Judge Michael Hood. The state will cut the sentence in half for good behavior. After receiving credit for time spent in jail since being arrested, Simmons can expect to be paroled on February 27, 2026. His accomplice in the attack has never been found.
