Chicago's soon-to-be confirmed top cop Garry McCarthy said Monday that he's not satisfied with the arrests of five teens in connection with a series of strong-arm muggings in the Streeterville neighborhood over the weekend.
"The strategy to prevent that from occurring again is not to be satisfied when 10 kids commit an infraction and arrest three of them. The answer is were going to go after all 10 of them," McCarthy said during a q&a session after a city council committee hearing. "We're going to find every one of them, and we're going to prosecute and arrest every single one of them."
McCarthy didn't think this would be a long-term problem.
"I just went through a situation in Newark where it became fashionable to perform car jacking," he said. "We broke that very, very quickly with different methodologies. ... we have to knock this out and we have to knock it out quickly."
Meanwhile, he said the incidents don't neccessitate an increased police prescence along Chicago's lakefront. He recommended that residents and tourists remain aware of their surrounds in order to avoid troublesome circumstances.
FOP President Mike Shields praised investigators for making arrests in the weekend incidents, but said there's only so much the department can do given the current staffing situation.
"The response is entirely reactive. We need more offiicers, more men on the ground so that we are stopping and deterring incidents like this before they happen," Sheilds said.
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Earlier in the day, three teens charged with mob robberies over the weekend in Streeterville and along the lakefront appeared in bond court and received bonds from $200,000 to $300,000.
The teens, including Derodte Wright, 18, Trovolus Pickett, 17, and Dvonte Sykes, 17, appeared in bond court one-by-one.
The teens allegedly attacked various residents and tourists around the Streeterville and Gold Coast neighborhoods during a series of mob action beatings and thefts.
Each of the three teens drew different charges in court.
Wright is accused of punching a man off his bike around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on North Michigan Avenue. He allegedly told the man to give him his wallet before members of the group started punching and kicking the man, forcing him to fall off his bike.
Prosecutors say the victim flagged down police, and officers found Wright in the area with the wallet. The group also took the victim's bike, but it wasn't recovered. Wright is held on $200,000 bond. His next court date is June 10.
Pickett was next in court, followed by Sykes. Both men are charged with mob action and robbery in connection with a theft near 751 N. Lake Shore Drive. Prosecutors say they beat up a man on his bike and stole his iPod Touch and the bike. Police caught Pickett, who is being held on $300,000 bond, with the iPod Touch.
Sykes and Pickett were also implicated in an attack at 340 E. Chicago Ave. at 8:28 p.m. Prosecutors say Pickett, Sykes and a group of others approached a 68-year-old man sitting on a bench using his iPad when they allegedly shoved the man and stole his device. The victim also gave the attackers his cell phone.
Sykes was also charged with robbery and mob action in connection another incident over the weekend, a tourist who was walking along the Lakefront taking pictures. Prosecutors say Sykes took the man's phone, while another teen took his camera. Sykes was caught blocks from the scene and was identified by the victim. He is being held on $250,000 bond.
Meanwhile, Acting Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy complimented the police department's handling of the case, but said more needs to be done. He still says their prescience, and that of other rowdy teens, wasn't a concern last week when city officials closed North Avenue Beach.
