DePaul student robbed, used as extortion bait on crosstown Red Line ride: prosecutors – CWB Chicago

An 18-year-old male is facing serious charges after allegedly traumatizing a DePaul University student in an extended robbery and extortion plot that began on a Red Line train in Lincoln Park and concluded in an alley on the South Side.

According to a detention filing, Ricky Willis and an unidentified accomplice boarded a southbound Red Line train at Argyle during the early morning hours of September 6. The situation escalated when an 18-year-old DePaul student entered the train at Fullerton, where the suspects cornered him and demanded cash, threatening to take his life if he did not comply, prosecutors said.

After seizing the student’s phone, Willis and his partner attempted to make transfers from the victim’s bank account, but their efforts were thwarted by fraud detection measures, as detailed in the detention filings. Unable to extract money directly from the victim, they resorted to extorting funds from the student’s friends and family instead.

Initially, the duo reached out to the victim’s sister via his phone, ominously warning her that he would be killed unless she sent money. Out of fear, she transferred $700 through Zelle to Willis’s phone number.

They also contacted the victim’s roommate, who sent $100 via Cash App to an account registered under the name “Ricky Willis,” the prosecutors stated. The victim’s mother was later contacted, but language barriers and her unfamiliarity with digital transactions hindered her ability to send money, according to the allegations.

As the train neared 63rd Street, the assailants threatened to kill the victim if he attempted to flee, claiming to possess automatic weapons and warning him that he would “end up dead in a ditch” if he defied their orders. After forcing him to exit the train, Willis and his accomplice took him to a nearby alley where they confiscated his driver’s license, took pictures of his Social Security card, and demanded his addresses, prosecutors reported. They provided him with a phone number, instructed him that they would require weekly payments, and threatened to murder him if he failed to comply.

“I will kill you,” Willis allegedly stated. “This is life or death.”

In the following week, the victim received calls from the number Willis provided, but he did not send any further funds. The Chicago police later issued a community alert featuring surveillance photos of the suspects. A housing worker recognized Willis and his accomplice as individuals associated with a nearby property where they were employed.

During police questioning, Willis acknowledged being the individual in the surveillance images and admitted to having “messed up,” according to prosecutors. His accomplice has been identified but remains at large.

Willis faces charges including aggravated robbery, intimidation, and unlawful restraint. Judge John Hock has ordered him to be held in custody until his trial.