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South Side Men Crashed, Robbed DePaul House Parties, Cops Say

By Erin Meyer | February 11, 2013 3:06pm | Updated on February 12, 2013 10:02am

LINCOLN PARK — Three 18-year-old men are accused of bloodying a man's face and ripping off several other young people at two house parties thrown by DePaul University students Saturday night.

Tommie Hoskins, Justice Benjamin and Kasey Moore were charged with home invasion and multiple counts of robbery after allegedly crashing the Lincoln Park parties and attacking and robbing several people, said Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.

"It was complete chaos," said a 19-year-old student who was at one of the parties when the robberies allegedly occurred. "They started kicking my male friend and then one of my female friends jumped on top of him to shield him, and they kept kicking."

The woman, who asked not to be identified, said her female friend suffered a "fat lip."

She said police recovered her stolen iPhone.

The three men accompanied 20-30 other people on a Red Line "L" en route to a house party in the 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue.

They decided to target iPhones — the "cream of the crop" in terms of stolen merchandise with the best street value — Scaduto said.

Shortly after midnight at the house party they attacked people, "punching them and then reaching into their pockets," Scaduto said.

One of the victims was thrown to the floor and another suffered lacerations to his eye, she said.

The three allegedly found a second party to target in the 1200 block of West Altgeld Street, Scaduto said.

According to police reports, one of the people there called police and later identified the three men when police arrested them about 1:30 a.m. in the 2500 block of North Southport Avenue.

Cook County Judge Isreal Desierto set Benjamin's bond at $50,000. Hoskins and Moore were both ordered held on $75,000.

None of the suspecgs has a criminal history. Family members who attended the court hearing Monday expressed shock and defended the three as "good boys."