COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man wielding a baseball bat robbed a postal worker and then a 14-year-old boy in Archer Heights on Thursday, prosecutors said.
The man, identified by authorities as 25-year-old Jorge Toledo, then sped off, crashed into a taxi and fled the scene of the accident, assistant state's attorney Erin Antonietti said at a bond hearing Friday.
An off-duty police officer from Cicero witnessed the second robbery, called police and trailed Toledo until police arrived, Antonietti said.
Everything started Thursday when Toledo approached a 39-year-old postal worker who was making her rounds in the 4800 block of South Hamlin Avenue, prosecutors said.
As he waved a black baseball bat, Toledo told the woman, "Yeah, b----. Gimme your money," according to a police report. The postal worker said she didn't have any cash and offered Toledo her Samsung Galaxy phone.
The woman then ran toward a store for help, Antonietti said, and Toledo allegedly chased her with the bat.
Fifteen minutes later, Toledo was spotted robbing a 14-year-old boy in the 4000 block of West 50th Street, prosecutors said. Toledo hopped out of his truck, pressed his bat into the teen's chest and demanded cash or anything else, court records show.
The teen gave up a wallet with $107 and two credit cards, according to a police report.
An off-duty Cicero police officer witnessed Toledo robbing the teen, prosecutors said, and called 911. The officer trailed Toledo, who crashed into a cab a few blocks away in the 5000 block of South Archer Avenue and fled the scene, according to Antonietti.
Police found stolen items inside Toledo's truck, and witnesses positively identified him.
Toledo, who lives in west suburban Naperville, was charged with armed robbery and leaving the scene of an accident. Judge James Brown on Friday ordered Toledo held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
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