An Uber driver was robbed at gunpoint by four suspects who held a gun to his head after he picked up the group in Waukegan and dropped them off in Zion.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Kailey Hopkins said officers were called to the area of 27th Street and Galilee Avenue in Zion around 4:30 a.m. on January 19 for an assault report.
Officers met with a family member of the victim who reported his uncle had been assaulted.
The victim told police he had been working as an Uber driver and picked up four black males from Thorntons gas station at Grand Avenue and Green Bay Road in Waukegan, Hopkins said.
He drove the passengers to the 2700 block of Gideon Avenue in Zion.
A male from the back seat of the vehicle pressed a black handgun against his head.
Hopkins said the suspect ordered the driver to give them his wallet and phone. Another suspect took the victim’s two phones and wallet.
The suspects were unable to steal the driver’s keys and they exited the vehicle and ran southbound on Gideon Avenue.
Officers spoke with the victim again later and learned the ride request was made at 3:24 a.m. and came from a user named “Draco.”
The victim began receiving notifications that someone was using his debit card as he spoke to the police, Hopkins said.
Uber informed police that the user was listed as “Draco Jones” and investigators connected the persona to Andre M. Brooks, 18, of Zion.
Hopkins said Brooks had used his Illinois identification card to verify his identity as “Draco Jones” when creating the account.
Brooks also used his address and personal email address to set up the account.
Officers reviewed surveillance footage from the Thorntons in Waukegan and saw four suspects getting into the Uber vehicle.
Two of the occupants were identified as juveniles and a third was identified as Brooks, Hopkins said.
Brooks was charged earlier this month with armed robbery, aggravated robbery and theft. It was not immediately clear whether the juveniles have been charged.
An arrest warrant was issued for Brooks. Officers were on patrol in a high-crime area in North Chicago on April 5 when they noticed masked males attempting to hide before running from officers.
Brooks and a juvenile were located and arrested. Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said Brooks was hiding in a dumpster and was found in possession of a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine.
Brooks then called a family member on a recorded line while in custody to tell her “they caught me with a gun again,” McConnell said.
At the time of his arrest, Brooks was on pre-trial release for possession of a stolen vehicle and robbery in separate juvenile cases in Lake County. Failure to appear in court warrants were outstanding in those cases.
He was also convicted in August in a case where he was charged with operating a vehicle without consent and carrying a concealed weapon.
In addition to his robbery charges, Brooks was charged by North Chicago police with four counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, obstructing a peace officer and resisting a peace officer.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed petitions to detain Brooks pending trial and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petitions.
Brooks remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on April 30 for a preliminary hearing.