Two men accused of robbing a couple at gunpoint in the West Loop have been sentenced to prison, with one going away for 8 years while the other received a 20-year sentence.
Simeon Allen, 25, received the longer sentence after pleading guilty to armed robbery on Monday. His accomplice, Devonta Thompson, 28, pleaded guilty in January. Judge Adrienne Davis sentenced both men.
Shortly after 9 p.m. on October 18, 2023, a man and woman were walking back to their parked car in the first block of North Green when Thompson and Allen ran up to them while brandishing firearms, authorities said.
Both men shouted for the couple to surrender their purse, wallets, cash, and phones, and Thompson pushed the male victim, 39, against a car, prosecutors said. The woman, 36, screamed for help, attracting the attention of someone in an apartment across the street.
Prosecutors said that Thompson and Allen took the couple’s property and ran to a Chrysler 300 waiting nearby. But one of the victims was able to memorize the car’s license plate, and Chicago police began tracking the vehicle using CPD’s citywide network of license plate readers.
A CPD helicopter crew located the car as it traveled through the city, and the air unit crew saw three people run from the vehicle after it crashed into a parked car in the 100 block of North Hoyne. Patrol officers arrested Thompson and Allen nearby.
Prosecutors said Thompson had the Chrysler’s key and the male robbery victim’s credit card in his pocket. Thompson’s phone was allegedly under the car’s driver’s seat.
Allen had two previous felony gun convictions at the time of the robbery. Thompson was convicted of possessing a stolen motor vehicle in 2019.
