Charges have been filed against two Chicago men in an Elmwood Park robbery that occurred last month.
The alleged victim, a 26-year-old man, walked into the 7-Eleven at 2759 N Harlem Ave. around 12:30 a.m. March 17, said Elmwood Park Police Cmdr. Robert Klisz. While the man was inside the convenience store making his purchases, Wade Sutherland, 22, and Christopher Gonzalez, 24, were hanging out in front of the business, Klisz said.
After the man left the store, he started walking home. As he entered an alley in Elmwood Park, Sutherland and Gonzalez reportedly walked up and began punching the man in the head and face with closed fists, Klisz said.
During the attack, Gonzalez allegedly demanded the man’s cellphone and a bottle of alcohol he had purchased in the store. The man tried to run away from his attackers, but they reportedly tackled him to the ground, grabbed the bottle of alcohol and then fled from the scene, Klisz said.
First responders on the scene took the man to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital so he could get treatment to the injuries on his face, Klisz said. The next day, Elmwood Park detectives followed up with the man and he was reportedly able to identify his attackers to police. After an investigation, Elmwood Park detectives took Sutherland and Gonzalez into custody at a house in the 7100 block of West George Street Chicago on March 30, according to police reports.
Sutherland, of the 7100 block of West George Street, Chicago, and Gonzalez, of the 800 block of West Addison Street, Chicago, were both charged with robbery. They appeared in bond court April 2 at the Maywood courthouse. A judge ordered Sutherland held on $75,000 bond and Gonzalez held on $100,000 bond.
They were expected to appear in court again on April 5.
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.