COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man on parole for armed robbery has been charged with robbing three people at gunpoint during a 30-minute spree that spanned Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Roscoe Village on Monday.
Prosecutors said Jonathan Alvarado, 26, was wielding a 9mm gun as he stole cellphones, wallets and cash from three victims on three separate streets between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday.
When officers arrested Alvarado — who matched the description of the attacker — about 11:15 p.m. Monday, they found cellphones, laptops, marijuana and a 9mm Smith & Wesson gun in his car, according to an arrest report.
At the time of the attacks, Alvarado was on parole for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery, court records show. In that case, he was arrested in 2012, convicted earlier this year and sentenced on Aug. 13 to six years in prison. Alvarado received credit for the three years he spent in Cook County Jail awaiting trial and was released on parole Aug. 14.
He was arrested just four days later for street gang contact while on parole, court records show. Though Alvarado was convicted on Aug. 19, his parole was not revoked and Alvarado was released.
The first of this week's attacks happened in the 1800 block of West Roscoe Street between 10:30 and 11 p.m. Monday, according to prosecutors. Alvarado is accused of stealing a woman's phone, wallet, ID, purse, Kindle and laptop, court records show.
That same night, in Lincoln Park, Alvarado took $45 from a woman in the 1400 block of West Wrightwood Avenue, according to prosecutors.
In the final robbery, Alvarado is accused of attacking a man — stealing his phone and wallet — in the 1300 block of West School Street in Lakeview.
Alvarado was arrested about 11:15 p.m. Monday in the 3400 block of North Ravenswood Avenue after police saw him stuff a hoodie that appeared to be wrapped around an object into the trunk of a 2013 Nissan Altima, according to an arrest report.
The officers thought Alvarado matched the description of the robbery suspect, prosecutors said, and he was later identified by the victims.
Alvarado, of the 2900 block of North Narragansett Avenue in Belmont Cragin, was charged with possession of marijuana and three counts of armed robbery with a firearm.
In addition to the 2012 aggravated robbery case, Alvarado was previously convicted in two 2007 drug cases and a 2009 case involving aggravated battery of a police officer, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
During a bond hearing Wednesday, Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonietti requested that Alvarado be held without bail for the recent string of attacks.
"I believe no conditions of bond can be set to keep the community safe," she said.
Cook County Judge James Brown set bail at $750,000. When he denied the "no bail" request, a woman in the audience stood up, smiled and clapped twice before leaving the courtroom.
Moments earlier, Alvarado's public defender said her client lived with his girlfriend and had a baby on the way. He was unemployed and seeking work, she added.
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