Police: Teen Girls Charged With Stealing, Crashing SUV Also Beat Up Girl, 10
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two teenage girls charged with helping steal and crash a Lexus in River North are in even more trouble, now facing charges for attacking and beating a 10-year-old girl in the old Cabrini-Green neighborhood last week.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, the 16- and 14-year-old girls and a 20-year-old man were arrested Tuesday after police say they stole a Lexus sport-utility vehicle from the 800 block of North Hudson Avenue, in front of the Cabrini-Green rowhouses.
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The owner of the stolen SUV called police after he spotted one of the teen girls driving it. A police chase ensued and at some point, the man got behind the wheel, police said.
The SUV crashed into a parked Bentley at Wells Street and Chicago Avenue, near the Chicago Avenue Brown-Purple Line 'L' stop. They then hit a pole in front of Gino's East pizzeria, on the southeast corner of Erie and Wells streets.
In investigating the theft and crash, police learned that the 16-year-old girl had already been charged with misdemeanor battery on Dec. 9 for beating up the 10-year-old girl two days earlier.
The 14-year-old was wanted in the same attack, police said.
Both teens apparently knew the 10-year-old victim they allegedly beat and robbed Dec. 7, a police source said. They allegedly approached her about 4:45 p.m. in 1100 block of North Hudson Avenue because of a "previous disagreement" and, along with a third suspect, beat and robbed the girl of her purse and iPhone.
Another police source said the teens "pummeled, stomped and kicked" the 10-year-old girl so severely that her injuries required surgery.
Both teens were charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle and burglary in connection with Tuesday's crash, police said. The 14-year-old was also charged with felony robbery for the Dec. 7 attack, police said.
A third unnamed female suspect between 14 and 16 years old is still being sought in connection with the Hudson Avenue robbery, police said.
The man involved in the Lexus theft and crash -- Jerry Brown, 20, of the 500 block of West Pearson Street -- was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing, leaving the scene of an accident with an injury and resisting arrest, according to a police News Affairs release.
Brown remained hospitalized early Wednesday, police said. The 16-year-old girl was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after the crash, but police said both teens have been taken to the Juvenile Detention Center for processing as of late Tuesday.
