Zion woman denies Gurnee Mills robbery, attack
A Zion woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to a host of charges filed against her in what officials say was a brazen daylight attack in the Gurnee Mills parking lot.
Renee Harris, 41, faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted in the June 18 attack in which she is alleged to have forced her way into another woman’s car, threatened her with a razor and beat and bit her.
Harris is charged with armed robbery, armed violence, aggravated robbery, robbery, vehicular invasion, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ari Fisz said a 24-year-old Lindenhurst woman was getting into her car about 5 p.m. when Harris approached and grabbed the driver’s side door, leaving her fingerprints on the window.
Harris asked the woman if she could use her telephone, Fisz said, and then acted as though she was calling someone for a ride home.
Harris told the woman the person she called could not come to get her, Fisz said, and the Lindenhurst woman said no when Harris asked her for a ride home.
The Lindenhurst woman got into her car, and Harris ran to the passenger door and also got into the car, Fisz said.
Harris held a razor to the woman’s throat and demanded money, Fisz said, then punched the Lindenhurst woman several times and bit her on the right arm.
Harris grabbed a credit card from the woman’s purse and fled before police could arrive, Fisz said.
Police took a DNA sample from the bite mark on the victim’s arm and matched it and the fingerprints to Harris, Fisz said.
Court records show Harris has multiple convictions for robbery and is currently on parole for attempted murder.
She is held on $1 million bond, but is ineligible to be released from jail because of her status as a parolee.
Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Harris to appear in court Sept. 20.
The Harris attack took place just a year after a 19-year-old Grayslake woman was kidnapped in her own car from the shopping center parking lot, forced to drive to Kane County and raped.
Richard Gallatin, 38, a convicted child molester from Wisconsin, was convicted of the crime in April and sentenced to 120 years in prison.
Gurnee Police Cmdr. Jay Patrick called the two violent crimes “isolated incidents” and said the overall safety record of the mall is good during its nearly 20-year history.
“We have mainly property crimes there, people breaking into cars,” Patrick said. “Mall security has roving patrols in the parking lots, security cameras are used and our officers frequently patrol the lots.”
Patrick said anyone concerned about their safety in the parking lots at the mall should contact security and request an escort to their car.