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Mom of Chicago train robber turns in son, 18, to cops after identifying him as suspect

The student from Loyola University is accused of putting a gun at the conductor's stomach before robbing him of at least $100
PUBLISHED FEB 21, 2022
Teenage Boy, Zion Brown, charged with armed robbery on a Metra Electric Line Train. (Photo by Twitter/Marcelo Mascarini)
Teenage Boy, Zion Brown, charged with armed robbery on a Metra Electric Line Train. (Photo by Twitter/Marcelo Mascarini)

The mother of a suspected train robber is credited for taking her teen son to the police station after seeing his photo in Chicago. Her teen son named, Zion Brown, 18, was charged with armed robbery after allegedly pulling a gun on a Metra Electric Line train conductor on Tuesday, according to WBBM. The student from Loyola University is accused of putting a gun at the conductor's stomach before robbing him of at least $100.

Following the armed robbery, authorities issued two photos to the public in the hopes of identifying the perpetrator, who was at the time unknown. Brown's mother recognised him after seeing those photographs on the news Tuesday night and drove him to the Calumet City police station to surrender himself in, according to CWB.

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The conductor can be seen in the background in the first shot, still keeping his hands up after being robbed at gunpoint, and the suspect is seen with a gun described as "a black semi-automatic handgun."



 

When Brown's defence attorney pleaded for leniency from the court at the bond hearing, Cook County judge Maryam Ahmad was poised to decide on the state's motion to keep Brown without bail. Brown should be allowed bond, the defence claimed, because he had no past criminal record and the robbery was a decision made by a young man who was hungry and merely seeking something to eat. Before accepting the state's no-bail motion, the judge allegedly told the defence that she remembered her own days as a hungry college student and that she had never considered drawing a pistol on someone as a solution to her problems.

This armed robbery is part of a rise in violence in Chicago that is being blamed on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's (D) failed leadership, which has placed a greater emphasis on blaming racism and poverty for the city's issues. Officer retention is reportedly low in the city as a result of crime-fighting strategies and legislation such as vaccination mandates.

โ€œWhen you look at it, itโ€™s a recipe for disaster. And thatโ€™s what weโ€™re seeing right now,โ€ added Alderman Anthony Beale. โ€œIt is why crime is escalating in the city of Chicago.โ€

Despite Lightfoot's terrible track record on police hiring and retention, she has highlighted the issue of lower courts re-releasing convicts onto the streets as a problem in the fight against crime. It's unclear whether those criticisms influenced Ahmad's decision to grant the state's request for no-bail. At present, Brown's next court appearance is set for March 4.

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