COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Side delivery driver thwarted a robbery Wednesday when he recognized the phone number on an order, prosecutors said.
Someone calling from the same cell phone had robbed the 42-year-old driver in December in the same exact Calumet Heights block he was asked to deliver to on Wednesday, court records show.
The driver called police, who accompanied him and set up surveillance, Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonietti said in court Friday.
When two men walked up to the driver — who parked his car at the mouth of an alley near East 93rd and South Manistee — they were greeted by police about 7:40 p.m., court records show.
Derrick Ewing, 20, was armed with pepper spray, while Anthony Sutherland, 21, carried a 4-inch folding knife, Antonietti said.
The driver called the cell phone number, and an iPhone in Ewing's pocket started to ring, according to an arrest report. The pair told police they had planned to rush the driver and take food and cash. They'd ordered $56 worth of beef sandwiches and pop.
Ewing later admitted he robbed the same driver on Dec. 5, Antonietti said. Court records show he took pizza and $50 cash while armed with a BB gun.
Ewing, who lives in the 8000 block of South Kingston Avenue in South Chicago, was charged with armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.
Sutherland, who lives in the 6700 block of South Chappel Avenue in South Shore, was charged with attempted robbery.
On Friday, Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois ordered each man held in lieu of $450,000 bond.
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