A Murder Suspect Sentenced in Connection to Armed Robbery in Rogers Park
A man who robbed a pizza delivery driver in Rogers Park while being sought in a downstate murder investigation has been sentenced to six years in prison — but he’s expected to walk free in September.
Kyle Escoe, 21, received prison terms for three separate felonies this week: six years for armed robbery, four years for possessing a stolen motor vehicle in one case, and another four years for possessing a stolen vehicle in a second case. The stolen vehicle cases were pending when the robbery occurred. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to a felony gun possession charge in the Macon County murder case and received six years for that, too.
Authorities in Decatur, Illinois — a city of about 70,000 east of Springfield — had been looking for Escoe since a man was shot and killed during a street gathering in their town on August 14, 2022. They believed Escoe had fled to Chicago, and by late August 2022, authorities confirmed he was likely here.
A week later, on September 1, 2022, Escoe and a juvenile accomplice robbed a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint in Rogers Park. According to prosecutors, the driver had just completed a delivery in the 1500 block of West Fargo when he noticed a black Honda with Virginia plates parked in front of his car.
Escoe emerged from the driver’s side with a gun, while the juvenile got out of the passenger side, also armed. Both wore ski masks. The pair pointed guns at the driver’s head from less than three feet away. Escoe took about $150 in cash; the juvenile snatched a gold chain from the man’s neck before the two fled in the stolen Honda.
The victim managed to memorize the getaway car’s plate number and police that information to track the vehicle through CPD’s license plate reader system. The car had been stolen in Uptown earlier in the week during a separate robbery spree — though Escoe was not charged in those robberies.
Law enforcement, aided by a task force and helicopters from CPD and federal agencies, spotted the car in Austin. Escoe was arrested after crashing the vehicle. Police recovered two guns, ski masks, and about $253 in cash.
But Escoe wasn’t done trying to flee, prosecutors said. After his arrest, police took him to Thorek Hospital for injuries from the crash. At the hospital, an officer partially released one cuff so Escoe could sign paperwork — and Escoe took off. Officers found him still partially cuffed in the 4100 block of North Clarendon after a brief foot chase.
Despite the multiple felonies, his time served and sentence credit will likely result in parole in just a few weeks.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered his local sentences to run concurrently with the downstate gun conviction.
With Illinois’ standard 50% sentence reduction for good behavior, and more than 1,000 days of credit already earned in pretrial detention, Escoe is expected to be paroled on September 26.
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