CHICAGO — Two men face robbery charges after they allegedly held up two people on Tuesday morning but made the critical mistake of committing one of the crimes in front of a Chicago Police Department surveillance camera.
Justin Douglas, 21, and Rayshawn Warship, 19, are each charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
At about 8:15 a.m., a 41-year-old man was walking home from taking his nephew to school when a gray SUV pulled up near him in the 3300 block of West Polk.
Douglas got out of the passenger seat, pointed a gun at the man’s face, and demanded his belongings, prosecutors said in a court filing. While Douglas searched the man’s pants for valuables, Warship pointed a gun at the victim from the SUV’s driver’s seat, according to the allegations.
The pair fled with the man’s credit card, driver’s license, and $1,430 cash.
About five minutes later, a 30-year-old man was robbed while waiting for his cousin to pick him up to take him for a haircut. He was standing in the 1100 block of North Lawndale when a silver SUV pulled up. Thinking that it was his cousin, he got closer to the vehicle but suddenly realized its occupants were wearing ski masks, the court document said.
He tried to get away, but Douglas allegedly jumped out of the passenger seat with a gun and threatened him, saying, “Do not move. I will blow your head off.”
The victim had been talking with his wife on the phone when the robbery began. He told police that Warship got out of the SUV with a gun, took the device away, got on the phone with his wife, and threatened to kill him.
A CPD surveillance camera was rolling just steps away, and a cop was watching the feed live. They immediately sent patrol cars to the scene.
Warship and Douglas fled with the phone, about $60, and two bags of weed, prosecutors aid.
Officers arrived as the robbery was ending and pursued the silver SUV until it crashed. Douglas and Warship bailed out on foot and ran into the home of a complete stranger, prosecutors said.
Warship was arrested there. Douglas bolted from the house and was caught in a field next door. Police allegedly found $1,430 in his pants pocket.
Cops also found a pistol in an alley that the men ran through. In the SUV, they found two more guns and a driver’s license belonging to one of the victims, said prosecutors.
A CPD report documenting the arrest said cops found “multiple” phones and wallets in the vehicle, too.
Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman detained Douglas as a safety risk, noting that he just got off parole for a gun case three months ago. But she rejected a detention request that prosecutors filed against Warship. She sent him home with a GPS monitor.
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