Man pleads guilty to stealing woman’s purse in Geneva
A man has pleaded guilty to theft for stealing a woman’s purse in downtown Geneva.
Yassine Kerbache, 28, accepted a sentence of 2½ years in prison.
At 10 p.m. Jan. 2, Kerbache grabbed a fanny-pack-style bag off a woman’s shoulder while she was standing outside a pub, according to a Geneva police report. He rode a bicycle through a group of people standing on the sidewalk in the 300 block of West State, grabbed the bag and was knocked off the bicycle, according to police.
Police said that when someone chased him through an alley, Kerbache threatened them with an 8-inch kitchen knife, according to Geneva police.
The police report said Kerbache used the woman’s credit card to try to buy items at a tobacco and vape shop on the first floor of the building in which he lives, on the 700 block of East State, according to the police report.
Charges of robbery, armed violence, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, identity theft, unlawful possession of a credit or debit card and use of a forged credit or debit card were dropped in exchange for Kerbache’s plea.
He will have to serve at least 50% of the sentence before being eligible for parole. He received credit for the 302 days he has been held in the Kane County jail since his arrest.