A 20-year-old man from Venezuela is being detained for allegedly pulling a gun on a robbery victim at a North Side Red Line station, with police saying all four robbery suspects are believed to be former Senn High School students.
Josue Rada, also known as Crismardin Hernandez, is charged with armed robbery in connection with a violent attack that occurred early on July 12 at the top of an escalator at the North-Clybourn station.
The 24-year-old victim, who works as a busboy and sells candy and other items near “The Bean” and other downtown tourist attractions, had just finished his shift and was carrying approximately $1,500 in cash, authorities said.
As he rode up the escalator, two men at the top shouted slurs at him in both English and Spanish, calling him gay and an immigrant, according to a detention filing. The victim became increasingly nervous as he neared the top, then suddenly felt someone take his wallet from his pants pocket. When he turned, he saw two more offenders behind him and someone struck him in the face, the filing said.
The robbers ran back down the stairs toward the platform, fleeing with the victim’s wallet, identification cards, passport, and cash.
A passerby accompanied the victim back to the platform in an attempt to retrieve the wallet, prosecutors said. When they encountered the four suspects, one of them, who was not wearing a mask, allegedly approached the victim, pulled a gun from a backpack, racked the slide, and pointed it at the victim. The victim ducked and fled up the stairs while the group escaped, prosecutors said.
The victim reported the robbery to a CTA worker and was transported by EMS to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment of a minor head injury.
CTA surveillance footage captured the robbery, with only one offender visible without a mask during the crime, police said. Detectives reviewed earlier footage showing the group boarding at the Grand Red Line station and jumping turnstiles while none wore masks, according to detention documents.
CPD issued a community alert that included surveillance images of the four suspects. Three days later, a Senn High School employee contacted detectives and said he believed he could identify all four robbers as former students of the school, the detention filing said. Using old student identification photos, detectives determined that Hernandez, also known as Rada, was the robber who displayed the gun, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Hernandez this week when he responded to the Area Three detective division after receiving a call about his brother, a juvenile, being arrested in connection with the case, according to the detention paperwork.
Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Hernandez detained.
Without identifying the juvenile by name, CPD this week announced that a 17-year-old boy had been charged in connection with the CTA robbery as well as a recent carjacking in Edgewater.
No other charges have been announced in the CTA case.
