A 20-year-old “Kia Boy” who skipped court after being charged with burglarizing a North Side convenience store and later robbed a 7-Eleven has been sentenced to three years in prison. But under Illinois’ sentencing rules, he isn’t expected to spend another day behind bars.
Tyrese Green pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of robbery and one count of burglary in exchange for three concurrent 3-year sentences from Judge John Lyke, according to court records.
Green’s problems began on December 21, 2023, when officers spotted a stolen Kia Sportage driving recklessly near 63rd and Halsted with four masked men inside. The SUV, stripped of its steering column, had been stolen from a driveway on West Chase Avenue. Minutes earlier, 911 callers reported seeing the same Kia as burglars broke cash registers and stole cigarettes from Hollywood Deli at 5700 North Sheridan.
All four occupants ran from the car, but cops said they found Green hiding under a porch with a “large quantity of unopened tobacco products.” More unopened products were recovered from the Kia. Prosecutors charged him with burglary, and a judge released him pending trial. Green never showed up for court.
He remained on the loose until February 22, 2024, when he and three others allegedly robbed a 7-Eleven in the 3000 block of North Pulaski. Green shoved a clerk aside, stuffed cash and cigarettes into a blue bag, and tried forcing the worker into a back office to open the safe, prosecutors said. When that failed, the crew ran away.
Minutes later, a 911 caller tipped police to suspicious men in an alley in the 3900 block of West Barry Avenue. Officers found Green on a porch, still clutching the blue bag stuffed with Newport cigarettes.
With credit for time he already served in jail and the state’s 50% “good behavior” sentence reduction, Green is not expected to serve any prison time.
