A Beach Park man allegedly participated with a group in beating and robbing an employee in the bathroom of a casino in Chicago, with investigators identifying him from his passport, which he scanned to get inside.
Abraham I. Pozo, 32, of Beach Park, was charged with one count of robbery, a Class 2 felony.
The incident occurred around 2 a.m. on December 29 at Bally’s Chicago, 600 North Wabash Avenue in Chicago.
A male employee was in a restroom washing his hands when a group began asking what his gang affiliation was, prosecutors said.
The employee told the people that he was not in a gang and two of them blocked the entryway of the restroom, preventing the victim from leaving.
The two suspects began beating the victim and a third person, as well as Pozo, entered the restroom and began kicking the employee while he was on the ground, prosecutors said.
One of the suspects reached into the victim’s pockets and Pozo demanded the victim’s watch before physically stealing the watch from his wrist, prosecutors said.
The four suspects, including Pozo, exited the restroom with the employee’s belongings and left the casino.
Prosecutors said the four suspects were captured on video surveillance entering a silver Honda, which was registered to Pozo, and driving away.
Casino personnel reviewed the surveillance footage and observed Pozo and the other offenders giving their identification to security at the front desk.
The victim was initially presented with a photo array but was unable to identify any of the suspects.
He did provide a description of one of the suspects as a large Hispanic male wearing a yellow hat, which was depicted on surveillance footage and determined to be Pozo, prosecutors said.
An employee of the casino provided Pozo’s identification information to detectives after reviewing the camera footage, which showed Pozo scanning his passport to enter Bally’s.
Pozo was arrested for an unrelated offense of battery on May 2 and investigators contacted the arresting officers with still images of Pozo from the casino. They positively identified him.
Investigators spoke with the victim again on June 12 and he identified the suspect in the surveillance images in the yellow hat, who was Pozo, as the aggressor and the suspect who stole his watch, leading to the charges being filed last month.
Pozo is a convicted felon with a prior conviction in 2013 for aggravated discharge of a firearm. He served four years in prison for the offense.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Pozo pending trial and a judge granted the request following a detention hearing.
Pozo remains held in the Cook County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on July 8 for a status hearing.