A twice-convicted robber is once again facing robbery charges after an anonymous tipster recognized him in CTA surveillance that Chicago police released to the media earlier this year. Both victims suffered concussions during the attack.
Tremaine Giles, 26, violently attacked two Lakeview women inside the Jackson pedway late on January 24, prosecutors say. Two men who remain at large helped.
Officials said the women, ages 22 and 25, were walking through the pedway between the Blue and Red Lines when Giles spread his arms to keep them from passing.
He allegedly put his arms around the younger woman’s chest and pushed her against the wall while calling her “b***h” and trying to rip her bag away. As he did that, the other two men blocked the second victim, according to prosecutors.
When the second woman tried to intervene in the robbery, Giles slapped her across the face, grabbed her by her hair, and threw her into the pedway wall, officials said.
He ultimately got away with the older woman’s purse but failed to get the first victim’s backpack, according to court filings.
Judge James Costello detained Giles, saying he “exhibited far more violence than necessary to achieve [the] robbery.” Costello said an anonymous 311 caller identified Giles, and one of the victims subsequently picked him out of a photo lineup.
Chicago cops recently arrested him after they saw him jump a turnstile at the Roosevelt CTA station and realized he was wanted for the robbery, according to his arrest report.
Both victims required medical treatment for concussions and one of them has suffered hearing loss, Costello wrote in a detention order.
Giles received a six-year prison sentence for robbing a victim older than 60 in Bridgeview. He pleaded guilty to robbery as a juvenile, too, prosecutors said.
He’s now charged with robbery, attempted robbery, and two counts of aggravated battery.
