A 19-year-old individual involved in multiple armed robberies on CTA trains last year, who later used a victim’s phone to call an Uber and violently carjack the driver, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for these offenses.
Jeremiah Burns admitted to two robbery charges and received concurrent 18-year sentences from Judge William Gamboney. Additionally, a consecutive four-year sentence was imposed for criminal damage to government property, related to a fire Burns allegedly started while in custody.
Authorities reported that Burns, along with two 17-year-old accomplices, caused fear on the Blue Line for over a week in March 2025. Seven caseworkers recognized his image from CTA surveillance video, leading to his identification.
At the time of the crime spree, Burns was on parole for a previous robbery. The incidents began around 11:48 a.m. on March 12 on a Blue Line train at Kedzie, where Burns, masked, took a 28-year-old woman’s phone while his partners assaulted her, according to a Chicago Police Department report.
Early the next morning, Burns allegedly stole a 38-year-old man’s wallet on a Blue Line train near the Western station in Tri-Taylor. He also reportedly took a phone from a 25-year-old man in the same train car.
Detectives later found surveillance footage showing Burns lowering his mask, revealing his face and leading to his identification, police stated.
On March 20, Burns and his accomplices allegedly targeted two Whitney Young Magnet High School students on a Blue Line train near Racine around 9:10 p.m. Prosecutors claimed one of them was armed with a gun, and the group took a wallet and AirPods case from a 17-year-old boy, as well as a wallet and phone from a 16-year-old girl.
Officials reported obtaining clear images of Burns after he lowered his mask while exiting CTA property. That night, the group allegedly committed another robbery near the Western station. One of the 17-year-olds, armed with a gun, reportedly approached a 19-year-old man on the train, taking his wallet, while the other took the man’s phone.
Burns allegedly removed items from the victim’s wallet, threw it back, and searched for more valuables, eventually finding an AirPods case and giving it to the armed accomplice, the police report indicated.
The group then used one of the Whitney Young students’ phones to order an Uber to Burns’ residence on the 3600 block of West Grenshaw Street, prosecutors said. Upon the vehicle’s arrival at a nearby location, the trio allegedly attacked the driver, assaulting him with guns, knocking out his teeth, and taking his Honda Pilot.
Besides the city robberies and carjacking, Burns pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of mob action linked to a robbery in Cicero, receiving a two-year concurrent sentence from Judge John Wilson. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped charges in three additional cases.
Considering time served and other factors, Burns is slated for release on March 10, 2037.
