Man tracks stolen phone, helps nab suspect

A man attacked by men who stole his cellphone on a Red Line train in Lakeview was able to track one of the suspects down by using the phone’s global positioning software and alerting police who apprehended him hours later on a moving CTA bus on the South Side.
Maurice Sutton, 19, was booked into Cook County Jail Wednesday after a judge ordered him held on $90,000 bond, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office. Sutton, of the 7900 block of South Crandon Avenue, was charged Tuesday with robbery.
Aaron Cagle, 23, said he was headed for work at Argo Tea where he is a shift supervisor at O’Hare International Airport when three men confronted him on a southbound “L” between the Addison and Belmont stations at 3:20 a.m. Tuesday.
He said his neck was twisted by one of the assailants and he was pinned to the floor while the other one went through his pockets. The third suspect stood guard at the door.
“I was put in a headlock, and he pushed my head to the floor of the train,’’ Cagle said.
Cagle said there were at least two other people on the train at the time. One man exited the train when he saw what was happening and a woman who appeared homeless did not seem to know what was going on.
“It all happened so fast that it was just a blur,’’ Cagle said.
After they took his cellphone, the suspects fled when the train stopped at the Belmont station. He stayed on the train until the Fullerton stop where he got out and called CTA personnel for help. He was not badly injured.
Shortly afterward, he began tracking his phone, and found it was near the 7300 block of South Crandon Avenue. He contacted police, who suggested he come down the station. Once there he helped officers track the phone to CTA bus No. #1582, which was moving west on 69th Street.
Officers stopped the bus and boarded the bus with Cagle, who identified one of the passengers as the person who had taken his cell phone by force.
“The Chicago Police Department was the most helpful team I’ve ever come across,’’ Cagle said. “It was a long shot to track the guy with my GPS. Thank God he was stupid enough to leave it on.’’
He got his phone back and was using it again Wednesday night.