Man accused of beating and stealing $500 from teen near McHenry denied pretrial release

A man was denied pretrial release from jail Tuesday after he was accused of arranging to meet with a former classmate near McHenry and then stealing $500 cash from him and beating him.

Azmi Ibrahim III, 20, of the 300 block of Cory Avenue in Waukegan, and alleged accomplice Christopher Williams, 20, of the 1900 block in Round Lake Beach, each were charged with armed robbery with a firearm, a Class X felony, as well as mob action, unlawful restraint, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a firearm without a firearm owners identification card, according to the indictment filed in the McHenry County Courthouse.

“He is a danger to the community. If he did this against someone he knew, he could do this to someone else.”

—  Assistant State's Attorney Maria Marek

A third defendant, who is a juvenile, also was charged in the alleged incident, according to the indictment and testimony during Tuesday’s hearing.

Ibrahim was taken into custody in July and ordered held without bond prior to the new SAFE-T Act taking effect on Sept. 18. Under the law and its so-called pretrial fairness provision, defendants can no longer be held in jail on cash bonds while they’re awaiting trial.

Based on the new law, Ibrahim’s attorney Daniel Hofmann filed a petition seeking Ibrahim’s release. Prosecutors responded with a petition seeking to deny his release.

Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Marek said Ibrahim arranged through a social media account to meet up with the 17-year-old male in the parking lot of a market in Wonder Lake. Ibrahim knew the teen from high school, she said.

After the teen got into the back seat of a Porsche driven by Ibrahim, the occupants pointed firearms at him, including a black semi-automatic handgun and blue revolver, Marek said, adding the teen was unable to escape the vehicle because the child locks were engaged on the doors.

The defendants punched the teen and struck him with the firearms, causing bruising and a bloody lip, the prosecutor said. He eventually gave them the $500 in $100 bills and escaped the vehicle, she said.

The Porsche fled and was eventually stopped by police in McHenry.

Inside the vehicle police, recovered the firearms including a black Taurus G2C semi automatic handgun and a loaded Tiffany Blue Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver with one bullet in the chamber and a magazine, according to the indictment.

They also found the $100 bills belonging to the 17-year-old alleged victim, Marek said.

Marek argued Ibrahim poses a clear and present danger to the teen and the community and should not be allowed pretrial release.

“There is no condition that can mitigate the real and present threat” Ibrahim poses, Marek said.

Ibrahim’s attorney said that Ibrahim has no prior criminal history either as an adult or juvenile, that he cooperated with police and that he would follow conditions if released, suggesting he could be on home confinement and wear a GPS monitor.

“I am not going to say this is not serious, but there are less restrictive ways to keep [the alleged victim] safe,” Hofmann said.

Marek countered that the alleged victim in the case is someone Ibrahim knew and this alleged “brazen attack” was committed in the evening, in “almost broad daylight.”

“He is a danger to the community,” she said. “If he did this against someone he knew, he could do this to someone else.”

Judge James Cowlin agreed with prosecutors and denied Ibrahim’s his pretrial release. Cowlin also ordered that Ibrahim have no contact with his co-defendants while in custody.