A Chicago man is facing armed robbery charges after prosecutors said he helped a friend rob a FedEx driver while wearing a GPS-enabled electronic monitoring bracelet. Now, authorities are using location data from the ankle monitor to place him at the scene of the crime while it was unfolding.
Bernard Meeks, 21, was wearing a court-ordered monitoring device when he allegedly joined three other men in confronting a FedEx driver on the South Side on January 31. Prosecutors said GPS records from the bracelet tracked Meeks from his home to the robbery scene and showed him remaining there for several minutes during the holdup.
According to prosecutors, the trouble began at about 1 p.m., when a FedEx driver tried to deliver a package to 21-year-old Dylan Longstreet in the 10200 block of South Forest Avenue. The package required a signature, and when nobody answered the door, the driver continued on his route. Longstreet allegedly wanted the package badly enough to recruit Meeks and two unidentified accomplices to track down the FedEx truck and take the package at gunpoint.
Prosecutors said the men drove around and eventually located the truck. Longstreet and Meeks got out of their vehicle and Longstreet pointed a firearm at the 23-year-old driver, according to the allegations. Longstreet then demanded his package, allegedly identifying himself by name and providing the address listed on the shipment. At the same time, one of the accomplices grabbed the driver’s sweatshirt and tried to pull him from the truck, prosecutors said. The driver held onto the steering wheel and remained in his seat. He then used his work device to locate Longstreet’s package and walked to the cargo area to retrieve it.
Longstreet, Meeks, and another accomplice allegedly entered the truck through the driver’s door and followed him to the rear. While Longstreet took possession of his package, the other men allegedly grabbed 10 additional packages before the group fled.
The truck’s surveillance cameras recorded the whole thing, officials said. Longstreet even tried to pull one of the cameras from its mount as he exited, but he only succeeded in exposing a distinctive tattoo on his arm to the camera lens, according to prosecutors. The truck’s security system also recorded Longstreet stating his name and address while demanding the package.
Although the FedEx driver was unable to identify Meeks in a photo lineup, prosecutors said two Chicago police officers who arrested him in an unrelated gun possession case last August recognized him during the robbery investigation. Authorities also had another piece of evidence: his ankle monitor.
According to prosecutors, GPS records show Meeks left his home at about 12:30 p.m. on the day of the robbery and traveled down the Dan Ryan Expressway directly to Longstreet’s address. Within minutes, his ankle monitor allegedly moved to the 10000 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, where the robbery occurred, and remained there for approximately six minutes while the crime was underway.
Judge Antara Rivera ordered Meeks detained pending trial on an armed robbery charge. Longstreet is also awaiting trial.
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