A 16-year-old boy has been charged with trying to rob a woman at the South Shore train station in Gary two weeks ago after he was recognized in surveillance photos.
The teenager, who lives in Gary, Ind., has been charged as a juvenile with attempted robbery and criminal trespass, according to a statement from the North Indiana Commuter Transportation District police. His name was not released because of his age.
The woman got off the train at the Miller Station at 9:45 p.m. on April 22 and was walking to her car when she noticed a male wearing an orange hooded sweat shirt walking toward her, police said.
The suspect said, “Ma’am, I want your wallet and money. I have a gun and I will shoot you,” according to the statement.
The woman ran to her vehicle and locked herself inside. As the suspect ran up to her car, he paused at her window and with his hand inside his front pocket, and implied he had a gun, police said.
He then ran off southbound and the woman drove off until she saw a patrolling transit police squad car pulling into the station, police said.
Transit and Gary police canvassed the neighborhood at the time, but didn’t locate the suspect.
“Police received several calls from the public identifying the suspect after the story about the robbery ran in area newspapers,” police said.