A man is jailed awaiting trial after Chicago police allegedly saw him violently mug a female DePaul University student in the Loop.
The victim, a 19-year-old woman, had just finished class at the school’s downtown campus and was walking south on State Street when Romeo Luna, 24, began following her around 1:45 p.m. on January 13, prosecutors said.
At the corner of Ida B Wells Drive and South State Street, the woman was holding her iPhone with both hands, using Google Maps and talking on the device, when Luna approached and pulled at the phone, according to prosecutors.
Luna allegedly continued pulling on the phone and dragged the woman to the ground while trying to take it away. He then kicked her in the stomach, which forced her to let go of the phone, prosecutors said in a detention petition.
After gaining control of the phone, Luna ran to a nearby 2014 gold Chevrolet Malibu and got into the passenger seat, according to the petition.
But a couple of Chicago cops happened to be sitting in traffic nearby and they witnessed the entire attack, prosecutors said. The officers activated their squad car lights and cut off the Malibu at the intersection. Prosecutors said the cops ordered Luna out of the car and detained him, recovering the woman’s phone from next to the Malibu.
Luna is charged with robbery and three counts of possessing a controlled substance — suspected amphetamine, alprazolam, and oxycodone. Judge John Hock granted the detention petition.
