$250K bond for pair charged with four armed robberies

Bond was set at $250,000 for each of two men charged with four armed robberies, including one Tuesday afternoon in the Southwest Side Little Village neighborhood.

Most recently, 19-year-old Arneal Thornton and 18-year-old Robert Rhodes were armed when they approached two women about 4:50 p.m. Tuesday in the 2600 block of West 23rd Street, according to a statement from Chicago Police. They demanded the victims’ belongings and the women – ages 20 and 23 – complied.

The victims told investigators that the suspects left the area in a four-door Pontiac, police said. Officers stopped a vehicle matching that description a short time later in the 3900 block of West Grenshaw.

Thornton, who lives in the 3300 block of West Ohio, was arrested after the car was stopped, according to police. Rhodes, who lives in the 5500 block of West Congress, tried to run away and was apprehended after a brief foot chase.

Both men were charged with four felony counts of robbery armed with a firearm, police said. They are accused of three other robberies in addition to the one on 23rd, although it was not immediately clear where or when those robberies occurred.

Bond was set at $250,000 for each of the two men, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office. Thornton and Rhodes are both next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 2.

Robert Rhodes | Chicago Police