CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a Venezuelan migrant with robbery for allegedly snatching a woman’s necklace in the Clybourn Corridor on Saturday morning. The robbery was one of at least seven similar crimes that occurred last week, mainly in the Loop and on the lakefront.
An arrest warrant was already out for Anthony Laya-Alvarado, also known as Elvis Laya, for failing to appear in court for a pending misdemeanor retail theft case, court records show.
A 37-year-old Streeterville woman was walking in the 900 block of West Weed at around 10:50 a.m. on Saturday when a man grabbed her necklace and jumped on a motorized bike that another man was operating.
A Chicago police officer, aware that the robbery offenders were both riding the same motorized bike, tried to detain Laya-Alvarado and another man as they rode a motorized bike near Marcy Court and Cortland around 11 a.m., a CPD report said.
Both men pulled away from the officer, and the driver managed to escape.
The officers arrested Laya-Alvarado after the victim confirmed that he was the person who took her yellow necklace with an “R” pendant, the report said. It also stated that the police found a yellow necklace with an “R” pendant when they searched Laya-Alvarado.
Prosecutors charged the 27-year-old with felony robbery, but they did not ask Judge Srivastava to detain him pending trial. Srivastava ruled that Laya-Alvarado must wear an ankle monitor while awaiting trial.
He also detained Laya-Alvarado on the outstanding warrant until the judge handling that case can see him on Tuesday. Records show he failed to appear for court on August 12. Judge Peter Gonzalez ordered the clerk to send him a postcard reminder. When that didn’t work, Gonzalez signed a warrant on September 22.
Four other migrants are currently awaiting trial on allegations that they snatched necklaces and phones. Two are accused of doing it in the Loop as crowds left Lollapalooza. The other two allegedly did it at the ARC Music Festival over the Labor Day weekend.
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