COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Two women were robbed at gunpoint after they arranged to buy hair weaves in Brainerd, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The attack happened March 15 in the 8900 block of South Carpenter Avenue.
Two women, ages 18 and 19, had agreed to buy hair weaves from 22-year-old Valencia Buchanan, Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonietti said during a bond hearing Tuesday.
The pair drove to Brainerd on March 15 and were sitting in their car talking to Buchanan when a masked man reached into the vehicle, grabbed the keys and turned off the ignition, prosecutors said. He was carrying a gun with an extended clip, prosecutors said..
Meanwhile, a juvenile accomplice approached the passenger door and said he would punch the victim in her face if she didn't give him money, Antonietti said.
The two women turned over an iPhone 6S, an iPhone 6S Plus, a purse, nearly $400 in cash and several credit cards, court records show.
At that point, Buchanan reached into the car and took back the packages of weaves she had just sold, Antonietti said.
The victims were then told they had "10 seconds to get off the block," according to prosecutors. The women sped away and reported the crime at a nearby store.
Police were able to track Buchanan and the juvenile accomplice to Buchanan's mother's house using one of the victim's Find My iPhone app, prosecutors said. The masked man has not yet been arrested.
Buchanan, of the 6200 block of South Rhodes Avenue, is charged with armed robbery with a firearm and unlawful vehicular invasion.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on Tuesday ordered Buchanan held in lieu of $275,000 bail.
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