Elgin teen charged in Glen Ellyn kidnapping scheme released from juvenile detention facility
The 17-year-old Elgin teen charged in the Aug. 26 kidnapping and armed robbery of a 21-year-old Wheaton College student has been released, on home detention, from the juvenile justice detention facility.
The teen, charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of armed robbery, has been detained since his Sept. 7 arrest.
Prosecutors filed a “strenuous objection” to the release Wednesday, citing the violent nature of the crime and teen's lengthy criminal record. A court-ordered psychological evaluation has also not been completed.
Assistant State's Attorney Jae Kwon has also filed a motion for the teen to tried as an adult in this case. A date for a hearing on that motion will be set Dec. 28.
The teen was on parole for three prior felony offenses, including a charge of manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance, when the kidnapping occurred.
In the Glen Ellyn case, prosecutors said the teen, 23-year-old Jeremy Jones and 18-year-old Abeet Ramos of South Elgin were driving around in a vehicle reported stolen by Ramos' roommate, “hunting” for someone to rob.
The Wheaton College student was walking north on Forest Avenue between Cottage Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard at 9:50 a.m. “killing time before worship at the college's chapel” when he was charged by Jones and the teen, prosecutors said.
Jones grabbed the victim by the shirt and forced him, at gunpoint, into the back seat of the SUV, prosecutors said.
The three took the victim's baseball cap, his wallet and his iPhone, forcing him to remove the pass code and tracking device, authorities said. They then drove him to a bank along Roosevelt Road and ordered him to withdraw $1,100 from an ATM, authorities said.
The trio then drove the victim to Chicago, where they made more ATM stops, prompting withdrawals of $200 and $300, officials said.
The trio kept him in custody, forcing him at gunpoint to lie on the floor in the back of the SUV until about 11:30 a.m., when they let him loose in Chicago, gave him his iPhone and $20, and drove away.
Jones is being held on $3.5 million bail. Ramos has been held on $3 million bail in DuPage since his Sept. 2 arrest.