A Chicago man who told investigators he works as a security guard for prostitutes chained a customer to a metal pole in a basement apartment for a week, forced him to liquidate his stock portfolio and withdraw more than $32,000 in cash from two banks, then beat him so severely he suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung, according to prosecutors.
While the victim was confined in the apartment, one of the assailant’s sex workers, who was also allegedly beaten with a two-by-four while locked in the basement, assured the victim he would get used to the attacks, prosecutors said.
Dionte Young allegedly carried out those attacks and a third beating with a two-by-four while on felony pretrial release, making him the sixth person accused of killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony.
The allegations involve three victims over roughly five weeks, all connected to a basement apartment in the 3900 block of West Flournoy Street from which Young allegedly operated as a base for a sex work operation on the city’s West Side.
The first case came to light on February 8, when Chicago police responded to St. Anthony’s Hospital shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a report of a battery. The victim told officers he lived in the same apartment complex where Young rented a basement unit and said he had confronted Young about drug dealing and sex workers coming and going from the building, prosecutors said. Young allegedly responded by striking the man in the face and body with a two-by-four, assisted by an accomplice. The attackers then stole $8 from the victim, and the accomplice warned him he had better have $100 ready for Young the next time they saw each other. The victim suffered a broken arm.
Even more extraordinary allegations stem from a horrifying ordeal that allegedly began on March 7, when a second victim went to the Flournoy address seeking the services of Young’s sex workers, something he had done before. This time, prosecutors say, Young and the same accomplice beat the second victim with fists and a two-by-four, then chained him to a metal pole. The men took his credit card, demanded his PIN, and used it at multiple ATMs, claiming he owed them $10,000 for prior services.
When the victim said he only had stocks, prosecutors allege Young and his accomplice forced him to liquidate the portfolio, transfer the proceeds to a bank account, and withdraw $15,000 in cash from a bank branch. They then took him to a second bank, where he was forced to withdraw another $17,000, according to the allegations.
The men brought the victim back to the basement and secured him to the pole, prosecutors say, telling him he could have all the crack cocaine he wanted but could not leave. When he asked to leave two days later, they allegedly beat him again.
During his confinement, the victim spoke with a woman also held in the basement, the same woman who would later be identified as a third victim in the case. She told him he would get used to being kept there and that it wasn’t so bad.
On March 14, about a week after the forced bank withdrawals, the assailants opened the basement door and the second victim managed to escape. He was treated at Stroger Hospital for broken ribs and a punctured lung.
That same day, police were dispatched to the Flournoy block for a report of a woman bleeding from the face. It was the woman who had spoken with the second victim while he was chained in the basement. EMS transported her to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was treated for two broken legs, a broken left arm, a broken nose, and a laceration to the back of her head, prosecutors said.
She allegedly told investigators she had known Young for seven years and had worked for him as a sex worker. Young allegedly told her she was short on money before beating her repeatedly with fists and a two-by-four. She managed to escape shortly after the second victim.
Investigators linked Young to all three cases and found surveillance video placing him at the ATMs where the second victim’s card was used, prosecutors said.
In a post-arrest interview, Young allegedly admitted to beating the first victim on three occasions, telling investigators he did so because the man is gay. But he denied being involved in the February 8 beating specifically. He also allegedly told investigators he serves as a security guard for prostitutes, while denying he beat the other two victims.
Judge Rivanda Doss Beal detained Young, who is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery, and aggravated armed kidnapping.
Young resolved an attempted murder case in 2022 by pleading guilty to aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in exchange for a 10-year sentence, court records show. He previously pleaded guilty to aggravated domestic battery causing great bodily harm in 2017. Most of his other felony convictions, dating back to 1998, are narcotics-related, with convictions in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2017, and 2025.
He has been on pretrial release for a pending stolen motor vehicle case since September 2024.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others on pretrial release for a felony allegation. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after then-Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “We haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative.
The actual number of murders and shootings committed by people awaiting trial for felony allegations is undoubtedly much higher than the numbers seen here. Since 2017, CPD has brought charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data. You can see all of the “not horrible” stories here.
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