Four migrants from Venezuela appeared in court Tuesday after being arrested and charged with choking and robbing a man at knifepoint on a Chicago mass transit Pink Line train in February.
The four accused were identified as Carlos Carreno-Carreno, 20, Wilker Gutierrez-Sierra, 21, Fernando Loyo-Rodriguez, 22, and Yonnier Guasamucare-Garcia, 18, all Venezuelan nationals living in Chicago’s shelter system.
The four Venezuelans were arrested after a Feb. 17 attack on a 49-year-old man from the suburban town of Cicero.
Along with their court date, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) released video of the attack for the first time in the case.
Watch:
According to prosecutors, Carlos Carreno-Carreno motioned for the victim to walk over to him and his three cohorts toward the back of the train car. When the victim did so, Wilker Gutierrez Sierra allegedly closed in behind the victim to prevent him from retreating.
After the four threatened the man, Yonnier Guasamucare-Garcia reportedly jumped the victim and put him in a chokehold with the others began to rifle through the victim’s pockets, police said. Soon enough the victim went unconscious.
The four men allegedly took whatever the man had on his person and left him lying on the floor of the train.
Fortunately, he regained consciousness, but he found he was missing his phone and about $400 in cash along with his wallet.
The migrants tried to exit the train, but the train conductor kept the train at the Pulaski station and several CTA workers corralled the four until the CPD arrived.
Despite several of the men being in the United States for three months or less, three of them already have Chicago area arrest records.
Carreno-Carreno and Loyo-Rodriguez were arrested for retail theft in nearby Morton Grove, and Guasamucare-Garcia was similarly arrested for shoplifting in Rosemont.
As Breitbart News reported, early this year authorities said that arrests of Venezuelans have soared 11,000 percent in Chicago since 2021.
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