Chicago police have been warning construction crews and contractors for months about teams of armed robbers who’ve been targeting work vans and stealing expensive tools at gunpoint. Now, charges have been filed in one such case, and the accused man is on probation for a gun case.
On the morning of September 3, a 24-year-old contractor was working on HVAC equipment on the roof of a building in the 1500 block of West Carroll when he saw exactly the kind of crime police had cautioned about.
Below him, a black Honda Accord pulled up to his van and a masked man got out with a pry bar. The contractor hit his key fob to trigger the alarm, spooking the would-be thief, who ran back to the car and sped away.
Minutes later, the Honda returned. This time, the same man began sawing through the van’s passenger door lock while another masked man stood guard. As the contractor rushed down from the roof, he saw one man rummaging through the van as another man stood lookout.
Then, prosecutors say, Corshun Williams, 20, stepped out of the Honda, made direct eye contact with the victim, and pointed what was described as a black “assault-style gun” at him. The contractor ran away.
After the crew fled, the victim returned and discovered his Milwaukee-brand power tools were gone. Police later obtained video showing the robbery and the Honda’s California license plate.
Investigators tracked the car using license plate readers, found it parked on the West Side, and began surveillance.
Eventually, Williams pulled up in a white Kia and retrieved a saw from the Honda. The cops arrested him on the spot.
A search of the Honda turned up several of the victim’s tools. Police also discovered the Honda had been reported stolen in Florida, according to prosecutors.
Investigators searched Williams’ phone and found a picture of him, timestamped about an hour before the robbery, seated in a vehicle holding two “assault-style pistols,” prosecutors alleged.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. detained Williams on an armed robbery charge.
Court records show Williams pleaded guilty in January to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and received probation.
In March 2024, Chicago police officers said they saw him climb out of a stolen car and fire shots toward a group of people in a vacant lot near Chicago Avenue and Lavergne Avenue. During a hearing in that case, a judge remarked that Williams “has [the] ability to obtain assault rifles.” According to prosecutors, that ability was once again on display in the West Loop.
Earlier this year, CWBChicago shared video of an armed robbery crew that targeted a construction worker’s van in Logan Square. CPD said the crew had struck several other times in June. Days later, an armed robbery team fired shots at a contractor who tried to stop them from stealing items from his truck in West Rogers Park.
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