COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A couple is accused of going on a crime spree that included ripping a baptismal cross off the neck of a 2-year-old, pepper-spraying the child's mom when she tried to help, and also snatching a purse from a woman in a church parking lot.
Elizabeth Moreno, 26, and boyfriend Andres Arroyo, 36, were arrested Sunday in Little Village after the short-lived crime spree, prosecutors said.
Police caught up with them after the pair tried to hock the toddler's cross, which had the child's name engraved on it, authorities said.
Moreno faces charges of armed robbery, aggravated battery, theft and burglary, while Arroyo is charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery and burglary.
Erin Meyer explains why the judge imposed a $250,000 bail on the pair:
In the strong-arm robbery of the toddler, the couple is accused of approaching the child in a North Lawndale laundromat and ripping the cross off the 2-year-old's neck, prosecutors said.
When the toddler's mom came to the rescue, Moreno pepper-sprayed her, prosecutors said.
The two then ran away from the laundromat in the 2200 block of South Pulaski Road, but were tracked down after trying to pawn the engraved cross, authorities said.
Moreno, of Bolingbrook, also is charged with theft for snatching cellphones and other belongings from two women in Belmont Cragin on Oct. 7 and Oct. 11, police said.
Moreno and Arroyo, of the 2400 block of South Hamlin Avenue in Little Village, also are charged with burglary for stealing a woman's purse on Oct. 12, said prosecutors.
In that case, the couple pulled up next to the victim in the St. Agnes of Bohemia Church parking lot in the 2600 block of South Central Park Avenue. They asked the woman if she would be kind enough to get them a weekly bulletin from inside the church, prosecutors said.
After the woman got them the bulletin, Moreno grabbed her purse and jumped back in her car, prosecutors said. While running after the couple as they made their escape, the woman fell and broke her shoulder, prosecutors said.
Moreno and Arroyo were ordered held on $250,000 bail.
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