A 32-year-old man is detained after he allegedly posed as a contractor, used intimidation tactics to gain entry to an 82-year-old woman’s South Side home, then robbed the victim of cash.
Sonny Miller and two other men arrived at a home in the 5400 block of South Drexel on the afternoon of February 2 in a white pickup truck, a detention filing said. Miller allegedly approached the victim’s daughter as she was walking into the home, telling her he had done roofing work on the property a decade earlier and had returned to perform additional work on the basement.
The daughter walked Miller inside to speak with her mother, who requires a cane to stand and walk. Once there, Miller allegedly told the daughter to boil some water, saying he would need it to mix concrete. When she left the room, Miller turned to the elderly woman and told her the basement work would cost $200 and that if she refused, she would face steep fines, a police visit, and a financial lien placed on her home, according to the prosecutors.
While Miller was pressuring the woman, the two men who had come with him were outside applying unnecessary concrete to the exterior of the basement, the filing alleges.
When the phony work was done, Miller went to collect payment. The elderly woman grabbed an envelope containing cash, which Miller allegedly snatched from her hand, then ran out the door and fled in the pickup with the other two men. The woman, the filing noted, “was not able to put up much of a resistance.”
The victim and her daughter called Chicago police, estimating that $900 had been taken. Responding officers collected a laminated solicitation flyer Miller had left behind, along with video footage gathered from neighbors, according to prosecutors. One video captured the truck’s license plate and images of the men.
Detectives circulated a bulletin to cops throughout the area, and Skokie police responded with information. Des Plaines police later spotted the truck when it triggered a license plate reader in their jurisdiction. Officers stopped the vehicle and detained its occupants.
One of the men in the truck, identified as Miller’s cousin, admitted to being one of the men who performed the phony work outside the victim’s home, according to the filing. He allegedly identified Miller as the man who had gone inside to deal with the elderly woman.
Miller had more than $2,000 on him when he was arrested, prosecutors said. He denied ever being at the woman’s home.
Judge James Murphy III ordered Miller detained, describing him as a six-time convicted felon “with a history of scams.” Miller is charged with robbery of a victim older than 60, robbery, and aggravated home fraud by deception of a victim older than 60.
