Two more members of an armed robbery crew were ordered held without bail Thursday after they were arrested when a police chase ended in a fiery crash in the Ravenswood neighborhood.
A total of four men — ages 19 to 21 — have now been denied bail after being charged with four armed holdups Monday in Budlong Woods, North Center and Bucktown.
Marcus Carter, 20, and Machelo Hicks, 21, appeared in court on Wednesday, followed the next day by Dashun McGraw, 19, and Marquise Green, 20.
All four face felony counts of armed robbery with a firearm, aggravated robbery with a firearm and robbery, police said. Carter, Hicks and Green were also charged with felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
The first two robberies happened between 3:15 a.m. and 3:18 a.m. Monday in the 2400 block of West Berwyn Avenue and the 4300 block of North Leavitt Street, police said. The others were reported between 10:26 a.m. and 10:39 a.m. in the 2100 block of North Claremont Avenue and the 4100 block of North Wolcott Avenue.
In each incident, Carter, Hicks and Green approached a person sitting in a car before pointing guns, demanding property and fleeing in a waiting car with McGraw behind the wheel, prosecutors said in court.
The group was caught after crashing a stolen Hyundai that burst into flames in the 5100 block of North Oakley Avenue, police said. They were found hiding in a nearby garage where three guns and some of the stolen items were also recovered, prosecutors said.
Three of the four robberies were captured on video, but lawyers for all four men questioned the quality of the footage.
According to prosecutors, a person can be seen in the video wearing the same jacket Green was arrested in. McGraw also identified himself and the other three to the police and admitted running from the car, prosecutors said.
Neither Carter nor Hicks have previous arrests for violent crimes. Carter has three arrests for possession, according to court records, while Hicks has three traffic arrests. Green has no adult record and McGraw had nothing on file.
McGraw’s lawyer argued that he never left the car during the robberies and never interacted with any of the victims. But prosecutors maintained that none of the robberies could have been committed without McGraw’s assistance
In all court appearances, Judge Susana Ortiz told the men she did not take her decision lightly as she ordered all of them held without bail.
“This is not just a bad idea, of some people this age getting together,” Ortiz said. “This is an organized, concerted effort, this is well planned out.”
Chicago police Supt. David Brown has told reporters the men may be connected to “dozens” of other robberies, but no other cases were mentioned in court.
