COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Jefferson Park man pointed a replica gun at a CTA bus driver after robbing a fellow passenger Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Nathaniel Hernandez, 20, has been charged with armed robbery and assaulting a transit employee after the attack.
Prosecutors said Hernandez was on a bus near Damen Avenue and Irving Park Road when he sat near a 46-year-old man and displayed a replica gun about 9 p.m. The man handed over his wallet, ID and Samsung Galaxy phone, according to an arrest report.
Hernandez tried to leave the bus through a back door, but it was locked, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said in court Friday. He then walked to the front of the bus and pulled a gun on the driver.
Hernandez told the driver he'd shoot if the man didn't open the doors, Scaduto said. The driver complied and pulled a silent alarm.
When police arrived a few minutes later, multiple passengers offered descriptions of Hernandez. Police arrested him about 9:35 p.m. in the 2000 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue.
Hernandez was still carrying the victim's wallet and had dumped the weapon, a blank-firing gun, a few blocks away, a police report said. Officers found the gun behind a dumpster.
Hernandez, who lives in the 5300 block of West Sunnyside Avenue, was ordered on Friday held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
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