Chicago police have been warning building crews and contractors for months about groups of armed robbers who’ve been concentrating on work vans and stealing costly instruments at gunpoint. Now, prices have been filed in a single such case, and the accused man is on probation for a gun case.
On the morning of September 3, a 24-year-old contractor was engaged on HVAC gear on the roof of a constructing within the 1500 block of West Carroll when he noticed precisely the type of crime police had cautioned about.
Under him, a black Honda Accord pulled as much as his van and a masked man obtained out with a pry bar. The contractor hit his key fob to set off the alarm, spooking the would-be thief, who ran again to the automotive and sped away.
Minutes later, the Honda returned. This time, the identical man started sawing by the van’s passenger door lock whereas one other masked man stood guard. Because the contractor rushed down from the roof, he noticed one man rummaging by the van as one other man stood lookout.
Then, prosecutors say, Corshun Williams, 20, stepped out of the Honda, made direct eye contact with the sufferer, and pointed what was described as a black “assault-style gun” at him. The contractor ran away.
After the crew fled, the sufferer returned and found his Milwaukee-brand energy instruments had been gone. Police later obtained video exhibiting the theft and the Honda’s California license plate.
Investigators tracked the automotive utilizing license plate readers, discovered it parked on the West Facet, and started surveillance.
Ultimately, Williams pulled up in a white Kia and retrieved a noticed from the Honda. The cops arrested him on the spot.
A search of the Honda turned up a number of of the sufferer’s instruments. Police additionally found the Honda had been reported stolen in Florida, in accordance with prosecutors.
Investigators searched Williams’ telephone and located an image of him, timestamped about an hour earlier than the theft, seated in a car holding two “assault-style pistols,” prosecutors alleged.
Decide Luciano Panici Jr. detained Williams on an armed theft cost.
Courtroom data present Williams pleaded responsible in January to aggravated illegal use of a weapon and obtained probation.
In March 2024, Chicago cops stated they noticed him climb out of a stolen automotive and fireplace pictures towards a bunch of individuals in a vacant lot close to Chicago Avenue and Lavergne Avenue. Throughout a listening to in that case, a decide remarked that Williams “has [the] skill to acquire assault rifles.” Based on prosecutors, that skill was as soon as once more on show within the West Loop.
Earlier this 12 months, CWBChicago shared video of an armed theft crew that focused a building employee’s van in Logan Sq.. CPD stated the crew had struck a number of different occasions in June. Days later, an armed theft workforce fired pictures at a contractor who tried to cease them from stealing objects from his truck in West Rogers Park.
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