A West Side man stopped when police officers spotted him driving a car they knew had been recently stolen has been charged in a string of armed robberies on the West and Northwest sides, authorities said today.
Kent Stubbs, 42, faces armed robbery charges in the attacks, vehicular hijacking charges in a carjacking, a drug-possession charge and a charge of driving with a suspended license. In a hearing midday today, Cook County Criminal Court Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Stubbs held in lieu of $1.5 million bail.
About 1:30 a.m. Monday, Harrison District officers near Jackson Boulevard and Kenton Avenue saw a 1997 Honda Accord that they knew was stolen, and got the driver to pull over after a short pursuit, according to police. Stubbs was arrested in the 5000 block of West Gladys Avenue and officers found he had a small amount of drugs.
After his arrest, officers figured out that Stubbs, of the 100 block of South Ashland Avenue, was wanted in a carjacking of another car that took place about 5:30 p.m. Friday from a gas station in the first block of North Western Avenue and also wanted in a pattern of robberies last month, according to police and court records.
Cook County assistant state’s attorney Erin Antonietti said Stubbs “kept the crimes in his neighborhood,” describing how he robbed a Family Dollar Store, two Walgreens stores, and hijacked the car at the gas station while holding his hand in his waistband to imply he had a gun.
Stubbs is charged in robberies at these businesses, according to police information and prosecutors:
* A Walgreens at 1546 N. Central Ave., on Sept. 13 at 1:45 p.m., in which the robber took $200;
* A Family Dollar store at 5660 W. Roosevelt Road on Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.;
* Another Walgreens at 5600 W. Fullerton Ave. on Sept. 23 at 11:50 a.m., in which the robber took $1,416;
* A Burger King at 2344 W. Chicago Ave. on Sunday at 4:10 p.m.
Urging Panarese to set a high bond, Antonietti said, “No neighborhood is safe. [He was] robbing at gunpoint people who are just trying to make a living, working at a dollar store, working at a Burger King.”
After the carjacking, “He was foolish enough to use that stolen car again on the West Side,” Antonietti said, when he went into the Burger King armed with a sawed-off shotgun.
Every victim identified Stubbs as the man who robbed them, Antonietti said.
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An earlier version of this story incorrectly gave Stubbs’ first name as Kenneth.
Ford is a Tribune reporter, Cromidas is a RedEye reporter
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