A 24-year-old woman has been taken into custody and faces a misdemeanor charge in connection with a harrowing robbery caught on camera outside a family's home in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood last week.
Police said Kayla Bell, of Chicago, faces a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass to a vehicle. She was taken into custody around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 9600 block of South Crandon, according to authorities.
Police did not elaborate on what role, if any, Bell played in the robbery that unfolded on surveillance cameras at the Pettiford family's home one week earlier.
Police said the robbery happened around 8:45 p.m. last Thursday in the Beverly neighborhood.
Michelle Pettiford was arriving home from volleyball practice with her 12-year-old daughter when they were approached by an armed pair.
Frightening surveillance footage showed two people pushing Pettiford to the ground as they shuffled through her purse while demanding her keys.
"They're in my purse, they're in my purse," Pettiford can be heard telling them.
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Meanwhile, her 12-year-old daughter ran inside screaming.
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"The scream ... You know, they talk about blood curdling and all that, but that coming from your daughter," said her father Jeff Pettiford. "I'll never forget that sound."
Jeff Pettiford quickly ran outside to help his wife, but said one of the suspects then pointed a gun at his head.
"There was no fear," he said. "When they came at me and I looked at them, they weren't afraid. I'm not small. I came running directly at them and the thought wasn't, 'Oh no, let's get out of here.' It's, 'Let's turn around and potentially shoot this person.'"
Jeff Pettiford said he tried to offer them money, but they only wanted a car. So, he helped them start his Audi.
"Just press the button," he can be heard directing them in the surveillance footage.
"They couldn't figure out how to start the car. I told them how to start the car, then they wanted the key," Jeff Pettiford told NBC Chicago. "I told them where it was, they still wanted me to give it to them. It's a fab. I don't think they understood."
The pair fled the scene in the Pettiford's vehicle and while the family wasn't physically hurt, they said the emotional trauma from the incident has been challenging.
"My wife and daughter are getting better every day, but it's a trauma and you don't know what it's gonna do," Jeff Pettiford said. "I think a lot about my daughter and what is this going to mean a week, a month, a year, two years from now? We're seeking all the professional help that we are supposed to. There's no playbook for this outside of make sure that we're talking about it."
Chicago police said Thursday that no other arrests have been made in the case so far but the investigation remained ongoing.
Police said Area Two detectives are investigating and anyone with information can leave anonymous tips at CPDTip.com.
