A Brookfield man was charged with mob action and battery, while two other men face mob action charges after they allegedly attacked a 16-year-old boy near Eight Corners on Aug. 18 just before 3:30 p.m.
The victim told police that he was riding his bike in the 3400 block of Maple Avenue when he was “jumped” by three men, apparently for no reason. The boy was riding to the Eight Corners area to meet some friends, he told police, when the men got out of an SUV and encircled him. One of the men, later identified as Brookfield resident Joseph L. Gibson, 22, punched the boy in the face two times, according to the police report.
The men left the scene in the SUV but were apprehended shortly afterwards in LaGrange Park. A witness and the victim positively identified Gibson and two others – Jeremy K. Luttrell, 22, of Brookfield, and Abraham Ramos, 20, of North Riverside – as the alleged attackers.
Police said the victim stated he had never seen the three men before and didn’t know why they attacked him.
Bank robber pleads guilty
A woman a charged with robbing a North Riverside TCF Bank branch and two other banks earlier this year changed her plea to guilty at a hearing in U.S. District Court on June 23 and is currently awaiting her Nov. 9 sentencing date.
Phelicia M. Van faces up to 20 years in federal prison and fines totaling $250,000 for each offense. According to a plea declaration filed with the court, Van admits to making off with more than $6,500 in the robberies, committed between January and March.
In January, Van robbed a Charter One Bank, in Elgin, of $1,482. On Feb. 11, Van walked up to the teller at TCF Bank inside Jewel Foods, 7201 24th St., and handed the teller a note stating, “I have a gun. Give me your money. No one gets hurt.” The teller gave Van $2,950 and Van fled the bank.
On March 2, Van robbed the TCF Bank inside a Jewel store in Stickney, taking $2,100 and fleeing in a taxi. Van’s probation officer recognized her in pictures taken by bank surveillance cameras and notified the FBI, who arrested her March 3.
Van previously was convicted in 2008 of robbing two banks in Chicago and was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. She was released in October 2009.
Possession of stolen vehicle
Berwyn resident Rafael Delgado, 34, was charged with theft after being found in possession of a stolen motor vehicle, Riverside police reported last week. Police also seized from Delgado a roll of cash totaling $1,585 believed to be related to a drug-selling operation, according to a police report filed on Aug. 16.
A Riverside officer was running license plates at about 1:20 p.m. on that date, according to the report, when a 1989 Buick bearing temporary plates came up as stolen. The Riverside officer followed the car to a gas station at the corner of Wesley Avenue and Cermak Road in Berwyn.
The driver, reported to be Delgado, got out of the car and was confronted by the police officer. Delgado reportedly told the officer he bought the car at an auction and got the plates through a Cicero car dealership.
Arrested for possessing the stolen vehicle, police reported finding the money in one of Delgado’s pants pockets. Police brought in a drug-sniffing dog, which indicated the presence of drug residue on the cash, the report stated.
Delgado has three previous convictions for drug offenses and numerous arrests for other offenses.
Senior scammed for nearly $10,000
A 77-year-old Cicero woman reported to North Riverside police that she was taken for $9,500 by a pair of women who conned her into thinking she’d be splitting a bag full of money found in the fitting room of a Harlem Avenue thrift store.
Before splitting the “money” one of the two con artists said they needed to check with her boss, a lawyer who happened to work at a nearby office building, to see if it was OK to keep the found cash.
The victim and pair of scammers drove from Goodwill, 1900 Harlem Ave., to the MB Bank building at 7222 Cermak Road. One of the scammers went into the building and returned a short time later. The con artist then convinced the victim she withdraw $9,500 from her bank account before the money could be split up.
One of the con artists then directed the victim to an office in the MB Bank building, saying the victim needed to talk with her attorney/boss so he could explain how to handle the money. The victim left the $9,500 with her two new acquaintances and went inside the building, only to find a vacant office space.
When the victim went back outside, the two con artists and her money, were gone.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Aug. 16 to Aug. 22 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.
– Compiled by Bob Uphues
