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Man Pretending Cellphone is a Gun Robs Two North Side Cabbies, Police Say

By Erica Demarest | February 19, 2014 12:28pm
 Deion Brown, 39, of the 6700 block of South Cregier Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of possessing a controlled substance.
Deion Brown, 39, of the 6700 block of South Cregier Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of possessing a controlled substance.
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Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO — A South Shore man pretending his cellphone was a gun robbed two cab drivers on the North Side Tuesday, police said.

Deion Brown, 39, of the 6700 block of South Cregier Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of possessing a controlled substance.

About 6 a.m. Tuesday, a man later identified as Brown entered the back of a taxi in the 4300 block of North Clark Street and pushed "an unknown object" against the cab driver's head, according to a police report.

"Don't look at me, or I'll shoot you," Brown said, according to the report. "Give me everything you've got. You don't want to risk your life."

The 33-year-old driver then gave Brown $150, police said. After Brown got out of the cab, the driver sped off and called 911. Police met the driver in the 4100 block of North Clark Street, got a description of Brown and circled back to the crime scene.

When officers arrived, the report said, Brown was robbing a second driver — this time, a 55-year-old man.

Brown had gotten into the back of the second cab and motioned that he had a gun inside his jacket, police said.

"This is a stickup," Brown said, according to the report. "Give me all your money or I'll blow your head off."

Officers arrested Brown, who said he didn't have a gun but had been pretending his cellphone was a weapon. When police searched Brown, the report said, they found a crack pipe and crack cocaine.

Brown was slated to appear in bond court Wednesday.