CHICAGO, IL – A mother watching the news recognized her son as the masked armed robber of a Metra train conductor. Instead of trying to cover for him, she dragged him down to the local police station and turned him in.
Mom turns son into police after recognizing him as a suspect in train robbery in Chicago pic.twitter.com/5hzps6SXzR
— Kollege Kidd (@KollegeKidd) February 22, 2022
A woman was watching the news and saw that a Metra train conductor had been robbed by a masked man with a gun on February 15th. Metra police shared portions of the video which captured the robbery and the masked gunman as he was walking away.
The mother’s heart must have sunk as she realized that the man committing the armed robbery was her son.
Instead of trying to hide him, she confronted him and reportedly dragged him down to a police station in Calumet City and made him surrender to law enforcement.
When the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Zion Brown, a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago, turned himself in, he allegedly confessed to the crime. Brown was arrested and charged with armed robbery and appeared in court for a bond hearing.
An attorney, representing Brown, tried to argue that he should be released on bond as he was a hungry college student. The attorney tried to suggest the robbery only happened because he needed money to buy food.
The attorney allegedly asked the judge to remember when she was a college student and being hungry while she determined if Brown deserved bail.
According to CWB, the judge did remember being a poor and hungry college student, however, she was quick to note that she never pulled a gun on someone.
Mom turns in son for allegedly robbing train conductor https://t.co/8yy1NcJGGB
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) February 21, 2022
And with that, that attorney’s argument fell flat as Cook County Judge Maryam Ahmad denied bond and Brown was remanded into custody. Brown’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 4th according to the Cook County State Attorney’s Office.
The robbery occurred just before 2:30 pm when a masked gunman, allegedly Brown, is seen walking through the Van Buren Street Station in downtown Chicago. According to Metra Police, Brown is allegedly seen walking up to the train conductor, pointing the gun at him, and ordering him to give him cash.
The victim complied and turned over roughly $100 to the suspect who then fled the area on foot. Brown allegedly told Metra police he decided to do the robbery after he saw the train conductor handling cash.
During the interview, Brown allegedly told police that the gun that he used was a bb gun and that he threw it in the garbage after the robbery. This was Brown’s first arrest as he has no previous criminal history that has been reported.
Mom turns her own son in after spotting him in surveillance camera.
Mom of Chicago train robbery suspect recognizes him, drags him to police station: Reports https://t.co/glkm8tK6Kz #FoxNews
— Katherine Trotter🚛 (@KatATrotter) February 21, 2022
Whether Brown allegedly had a bb gun or a real gun during the robbery is not relevant to the criminal charges he faces. That is because most state laws look at the view of the victim at the time of the robbery and what was reasonable for them to perceive.
In that instance, clearly, the victim believed that he had a real gun pointed at him and was being placed in fear that he would be shot allegedly by Brown if he did not comply. Because of that reasonable fear, even if it was a bb gun, he will still be charged with armed robbery.
Bank robbery foiled when criminal demands money and bank teller says “no”
Not because he was thwarted by a good Samaritan or security in the bank…but because he was simply told “no” by the teller.
Most banks train their employees not to challenge anyone who walks in and demands money.
They are trained to provide whatever it is the criminal is demanding in hopes to avoid any injuries to the employees of the bank and the customers. After all, the money is insured and can be replaced, but people cannot.
However, at least in St. Louis, it appears one bank employee did not get that training when she allegedly told an attempted robbery suspect no when he demanded money.
The St. Louis Police Department reported the incident occurred on February 11th just before 5 pm at the U.S. Bank branch at 5375 Southwest Avenue when a white male entered the bank.
The white male suspect, described as being 6 feet tall and roughly 280 pounds, walked up to the teller and produced a note which demanded the teller give him money.
When the teller saw the note, they simply told the suspect “no,” and he turned around and walked away. Police reported:
“When the teller told the suspect, ‘no,’ the suspect walked out of the business.”
The dejected would-be criminal was last seen wearing a black jacket, gray shirt, black pants, white shoes, and a St. Louis Blues hat. He was also seen wearing a chain necklace with a cross.
While this situation turned out well, bank managers and law enforcement would suggest that telling a criminal no during a robbery may not be the best move.
Robbery suspects can be armed even if you do not see any weapons and if the teller resists during the robbery, that could prompt the criminal to turn violent, like has occurred in the Manhattan area of New York.
The New York Police Department reports that they are investigating a serial bank robber who is escalating in his level of violence.
Instead of just targeting the bank for their money, he allegedly is also beating customers inside the bank and robbing them in the process.
In one incident, the alleged criminal walked into a New York City bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller apparently took too long for the criminal which caused him to lash out at a customer standing next to him.
The criminal then allegedly began beating the customer and took his money.
The criminal then fled the bank and has yet to be apprehended, and police say this was not the first time the same suspect has robbed banks in the Manhattan area, he is suspected of robbing five in the span of three months.
New York Police Major Case Detective Jaysen Murphy spoke to NBC about the alleged serial robber. He said:
“He does state in numerous notes that he’s armed. In the notes, he said he would do violent actions.”
Detective Murphy then spoke about one of the incidents that turned violent when the suspect began beating a customer while people stood around and watched. He said:
“Things took a turn really quickly, just seeing that is kind of out of the ordinary. For somebody to just go from an institution like a bank and immediately turn to a customer, it’s very concerning.”
Detective Murphy said the same person is suspect of committing violent bank robberies from September 20th through November 26th. His unit is working to identify the suspect and take him into custody before anyone else gets hurt. He said:
“It’s in the best interest of our fair city to bring this person into custody. We don’t need anybody else hurt.”
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