A man accused of terrorizing residents on Chicago’s Far South Side with a string of armed robberies carried out on a Lime scooter was caught after investigators used the scooter’s GPS and crash data to track his movements, prosecutors say.
Cavaseea Stewart, 25, is charged with three counts of armed robbery and one count of aggravated robbery in connection with a string of holdups that took place between October 4 and 6, but prosecutors said he may be responsible for as many as eight similar crimes.
The robbery occurred around 8:19 a.m. on October 4 in the 10400 block of South Michigan Avenue. Prosecutors said Stewart, wearing a ski mask, rode up to a woman waiting at a bus stop and asked to see her phone. When she refused, he allegedly told her he had a gun and threatened to shoot if she didn’t comply. The victim handed over her phone and unlocked it for him, though he never displayed a firearm.
About twelve hours later, another man was robbed after crossing paths with Stewart in the first block of East 109th Street, according to prosecutors. They said the victim asked Stewart to give him a ride on his scooter, and Stewart happily agreed.
When they neared the destination, Stewart suddenly swerved, causing both men to fall. He asked to borrow the victim’s phone, then pulled a silver revolver and robbed him of his phone, wallet, and loose change before ordering him to run away, prosecutors said.
The next morning, a third victim was attacked while walking in the 10000 block of South Prairie Avenue. She told police she heard someone running up behind her before Stewart pointed a silver revolver at her side and demanded her belongings. He allegedly took her bag containing gifts for her child, cash, two iPhones, and AirPods. Prosecutors said he forced her to give him the phone passcodes, threatening to kill her if she refused, and then fled on his scooter.
The fourth robbery occurred the evening of October 6 at 5:55 p.m. in the 10000 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue. A man told police that Stewart passed him on a scooter, dropped it, then ran back to point a revolver at him and demand his phone before riding off again.
Detectives started to focus on Stewart after finding a Lime scooter hidden among trash cans behind his home. Its serial number matched the scooter used in the most recent robbery, prosecutors claimed. A search warrant executed on Stewart’s phone allegedly revealed a Lime account that linked him to scooter rides coinciding with two other robberies.
Investigators said Lime’s system recorded “crash” alerts that matched the time and location of three separate robberies, apparently triggered when Stewart dropped the scooter as he committed the holdups.
Stewart, who was on parole for felony theft at the time of the robberies, has been detained by Judge Deidre Dyer.
CPD records show that Stewart has been arrested 19 times since turning 18.
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