COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Two Brown Line riders ran across the LaSalle/Van Buren platform Sunday to help 21-year-old John Bily when he started wrestling a man accused of stealing his cellphone.
At first, Bily, thought "how nice" of the two men to come to the aid of a stranger, he said. But he later learned one of the apparent good Samaritans was the twin brother of the cellphone thief trying to cover up the crime.
"The whole time I'm telling the cops that this guy tried to help me," said Bily, 21. "He was putting on a show, which is hilarious in retrospect. He'd taken my phone [from the thief] and was hiding it."
Twin brothers, Alvin and Quran Guyton, both 18, were arrested at about 2 p.m. Sunday after prosecutors say Quran snatched a cellphone out of Bily's hand on the Brown Line and tried to make a run for it at the LaSalle/Van Buren station.
"This happened in broad daylight in front of the entire train," Bily said.
Bily caught up with the alleged phone thief and attempted to wrestle his Samsung Galaxy away from Quran Guyton, he said. That's when two men, including Alvin Guyton, jumped in, prosecutors said.
"I thought that he was trying to help me," Bily said, adding that the Guyton brothers acted at one point like they would fight each other.
Police arrived, detained both of them, and found the stolen cellphone on Alvin Guyton.
Prosecutors said Alvin Guyton searched the pockets of Quran Guyton as part of a ruse.
The Guyton brothers were both charged with robbery. Quran was also charged with battery for fighting with Bily and the good Samaritan who was actually there to help.
Quran Guyton, of the 10100 block of South Aberdeen Street, and Alvin Guyton, of the 2800 block of East 79th Street, were both ordered held on $80,000 bond.
