Holly MatkinChicago, IL – The mother of an 18-year-old college student accused of robbing a Metra Electric conductor at gunpoint recognized her son in photos released to the media and hauled him to the police department to turn himself in, according to court documents.
The incident occurred at the Metra Electric Line’s Van Buren Street Station in Grant Park at approximately 2:07 p.m. on Feb. 15, CWB reported.
The masked suspect, later identified as 18-year-old Loyola University sophomore Zion Brown, pulled a gun and pointed it at the conductor’s stomach just moments after the train arrived at the station, according to police.
Brown allegedly stole $110 from the conductor’s pockets and fled the station on foot, CWB reported.
Police released two photos of the suspect, one of which showed him holding the gun on the station platform, according to WBBM.
During Brown’s bond hearing, it was revealed Brown’s mother recognized him in the photos and took him to the Calumet police station to turn himself in.
Police said Brown confessed to having decided to rob the conductor after he spotted him handling cash on the train, CWB reported.
Brown’s attorney told the court his client was just hungry and that he robbed the conductor so he could get a snack before his next class.
The defense lawyer urged Cook County Judge Maryam Ahmad to think back to her days as a hungry college student as she considered whether or not to grant prosecution’s request for no bond, CWB reported.
Ahmad told the attorney she readily recalled having been a hungry college student, but that she never considered robbing someone at gunpoint because of it.
She also refused to grant Brown bond.
Investigators said Brown told them the weapon he used in the attack was a BB gun.
According to police, Brown claimed he threw the weapon in a dumpster after the robbery, then went to class, CWB reported.
The suspect, an economics major, has no prior criminal history.
His next hearing has been scheduled for March 4, according to the Loyola Phoenix.
