NOBLE SQUARE — Two friends taking a smoke break from a Memorial Day weekend party say they were held up at gunpoint early Monday by a man who they believe was later arrested as part of a trio of armed robbers.
"Immediately, when I saw his photo [mug shot], the feeling hit. I screenshot it and sent it to [fellow victim Phil Krueger], and he was like, that's the guy," said Ashley Kersey, 26.
Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, Kersey and Krueger, 27, were sitting on a curb between two parked cars in the 1300 block of North Bosworth Avenue when a man came up to them.
Kersey said there was just enough space between her and Krueger for the man to "plop down."
"I looked down and [the gun] was on his lap. He was holding it in his hand. It was a black gun," Kersey recalled.
"He pointed it at both of us. He said, 'Give me everything you have,' " Krueger said.
Krueger said he replied, 'Listen, man, I don’t have anything to give you, I’m sorry.'"
Kersey said she offered the man her purse and whatever was in it, but cautioned that there was no cash.
Krueger said 30 seconds went by and they were both "sitting there frozen."
Kersey said she was "silently hyperventiliating."
The man did not open Kersey's purse or try to rifle through Krueger's pockets.
He finally said, "You know what, never mind, I don’t want to f--k up y’alls night, you guys seem chill. Have fun at the party," they said.
Then, the man left.
Kersey said she and Krueger "just stared at each other, got up, and ran back to the party."
Kersey's sister posted about the incident on the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Watch Facebook page minutes after it happened to warn others.
The next day, after many people online were stating they had similar experiences with an armed robber in the area, Kersey filed a police report.
Krueger later filed his account as a supplement to Kersey's report.
Officer Kevin Quaid, a Chicago Police spokesman, confirmed the incident.
As of Thursday, no new charges had been added for Kenyan Armstrong, 18, one of three suspects charged Wednesday in a West Town armed robbery that took place around 3:15 a.m. Monday in the 2000 block of West Huron Street. Krueger said that when he was filing a supplemental report, he told the officer about a DNAinfo article with Armstrong's photo and identified him as "the individual who tried to rob us."
“I hope he gets punished," Krueger said, describing the experience as "very harrowing."
Krueger, raised in a western suburb of Chicago and Arizona, moved back to Chicago after living in San Francisco, when he saw his close friend get shot to death by a neighbor. Now living in the Gold Coast, Krueger said he'd planned to move to Wicker Park before Monday's attempted robbery.
Kersey said she's lived in Chicago for three years, and Monday was the first time she's been a victim of a crime.
"It wasn't like we were doing something ridiculous and putting ourselves in a weird situation. It opened my eyes to the awareness we need to have about our surroundings and having a buddy system," Kersey said. "I used to be very comfortable alone, thinking I'm untouchable because nothing ever happened to me like that before."
Kersey said she would "absolutely not go alone for a cigarette after dark" again.
"We all need to be more aware. It could happen anywhere at any time in any situation," Kersey said.
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