Prosecutors on Thursday laid out in deep detail exactly what they believe happened Saturday morning as a man who escaped electronic monitoring last month went on a crime spree, violently robbing a Family Dollar in Albany Park and then shooting two Chicago Police officers, one fatally, as they stood guard over him at a North Side hospital just a couple of hours later.
Judge D’Anthony Thedford ordered Alphonso Talley, 26, detained, saying he was too dangerous to put back on the streets.
According to prosecutors, the crime spree began at 8 a.m. Saturday inside a Family Dollar store in the 3200 block of West Lawrence Avenue, where a 55-year-old cashier had just started her shift. One minute after opening, at 8:01 a.m., Talley and an unidentified accomplice entered wearing black jackets, black sweatshirts, and black face masks, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara said.
Following store policy, the cashier asked the accomplice to leave his backpack at the front of the store. As he set it down, prosecutors said, Talley pulled a handgun from his waistband, pointed it at the woman, and forced her into a back office, striking her in the face with the weapon during the confrontation.
Talley held the woman at gunpoint while his accomplice tried to open the cash register and safe, according to prosecutors. When Talley ordered her to help him, she told them she did not have access. He then marched her around the store at gunpoint as the men went through her purse, taking her wallet and car keys.
Prosecutors said Talley struck the woman in her face two more times with the gun, causing her to bleed and breaking her nose. He then dragged her back to the register, where she managed to open it. The men took $110 and fled on Lime scooters rented under an account registered to a Gmail address that consists of Talley’s first and last names, Pekara said.
After the robbers fled, the woman activated the store’s panic button and, with help from a customer, called police and provided descriptions of both men. CPD officers quickly located Talley near the 3400 block of North Troy Street by following pings from a GPS device hidden in the store’s money. Pekara said he was trying to order an Uber when the police arrived and surveillance video showed he had stashed the cashier’s wallet in a nearby garbage can.
Officers also found what prosecutors described as bloodstained cash in Talley’s pocket and they saw apparent blood on his pants and shoes.
The cashier was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for a broken nose and two black eyes. Pekara said she will require follow-up care with a surgeon.
Squad car video showed Talley fidgeting in the back seat while handcuffed, as if he was manipulating an object behind his back, Pekara said. He complained about something in his shoe and told officers he had swallowed five bags of drugs and was having trouble breathing. Police called an ambulance to the scene to transport him to Swedish Covenant Hospital for evaluation. Bartholomew and his partner went along to guard him.
At the hospital, Talley was placed in an exam room with his left arm handcuffed to a bed railing. He was given a hospital gown but was allowed to keep his pants on, prosecutors said. When staff prepared him for a CT scan, officers and medical personnel gave him privacy to change, though he remained restrained.
Surveillance video later reviewed by investigators showed Talley fidgeting under a blanket as he was moved to the CT room, prosecutors said. As preparations for the scan began, Bartholomew removed Talley’s restraints. Prosecutors said Talley immediately moved to the foot of the bed, reached under the blanket, and produced a 10mm semi-automatic handgun that he had used during the robbery and had been concealing since his arrest.
He immediately shot Bartholomew, striking him in the head. The officer died a short time later.
Two hospital employees ran from the CT room. Talley then fired at the second officer, striking him in the chin. That bullet lodged in the back of the officer’s neck, leaving him in critical condition.
In the moments that followed, Talley moved through the hospital as patients and staff hid. A fire alarm was triggered in the CT area, causing parts of the hospital to lock down and require employee badge access.
Prosecutors said Talley confronted two building engineers, pointed the gun at them, and ripped an identification badge from one of them to move through secured areas. As he approached an exit, he encountered an employee who was arriving, unaware of what was happening inside.
The employee came face-to-face with Talley, who was naked and armed, standing on the other side of a glass door. Prosecutors said Talley fired through the glass, then exited through the shattered door and chased the employee while demanding their car keys. The employee ran away.
Talley then approached a postal worker sitting in their work truck, but the driver sped off as Talley ran toward him carrying his hospital gown.
Surveillance footage from nearby homes showed Talley running through residential yards, naked, holding a firearm, and still wearing a hospital bracelet with medical equipment attached, including electrodes and a blood pressure cuff. As he fled, he discarded some of the equipment, though the bracelet remained, Pekara said.
About 1 hour and 20 minutes after the shooting, officers found Talley hiding under a porch in the 2600 block of West Carmen Avenue, roughly a quarter mile from the hospital. Police allegedly recovered the 10-millimeter handgun at the scene.
During Thursday’s detention hearing, prosecutors also detailed Talley’s criminal history, which includes seven felony convictions, four of them for robbery. He was on electronic monitoring for pending armed robbery and armed carjacking cases at the time of the shootings.
Talley is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated armed kidnapping, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, aggravated battery of a peace officer, aggravated discharge of a firearm in an occupied building, escape from a peace officer, aggravated unlawful restraint, armed robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, possession of a firearm by a repeat felon, destruction of evidence, and possession of a fraudulent identification card.
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