Crime & Safety

Teen 'Upset Because His Mother Took His Phone' Indicted Over Armed Robbery Of Jogger

Two 18-year-old men are accused of stealing a woman's phone at gunpoint. Both have been ordered to remain in jail while awaiting trial.

Prosecutors said two teenagers robbed a 44-year-old jogger in Wilmette because one of their mother's had taken his phone.
Prosecutors said two teenagers robbed a 44-year-old jogger in Wilmette because one of their mother's had taken his phone. (Jonah Meadows/Patch, File)

CHICAGO — A second teenager has been charged over the armed robbery of a jogger on a morning run in Wilmette last month, authorities said.

Samnang Toem, 18, of Skokie, was indicted Thursday on one count of armed robbery and one count of aggravated unlawful restraint in connection with the May 4 robbery on Beechwood Avenue, according to Wilmette police.

Toem and his accomplice, Saul Esquivel, hopped out of a stolen Hyundai sedan wearing masks. Toem then demanded the jogger enter her Apple ID in the phone, but when she could not remember it, the robbers grew frustrated and fled, prosecutors said.

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Esquivel, 18, of Chicago, was arrested 10 days later following a police pursuit that began when Glencoe public safety officers tried to pull him over on the Edens Expressway while he was driving what he would later tell police was the fourth car he had stolen that night.

Following his arrest, Esquivel fingered Toem, telling police that he had been up all night stealing cars with the Skokie teen before they targeted the jogger in Wilmette, Skokie Patch previously reported.

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Saul Esquivel, 18, of Chicago, at left, and Samnang "Sam" Toem, 18, of Skokie, have been denied pretrial release while they await charges in connection with multiple armed robberies and other crimes in Cook County, authorities said. (Cook County Sheriff's Office)

"[Esquivel] further related that Sam was upset because his mother took his phone and they decided to rob someone of theirs," Assistant State's Attorney Nick Campbell said at a hearing last month.

Both Toem and Esquivel have been ordered to remain jailed while awaiting trial.

Toem was already facing multiple armed robbery charges from Cook County towns, and Esquivel was also charged with an armed robbery and burglary in Skokie.

Evanston police arrested Toem on Feb. 13 in connection with a Dec. 10 armed robbery of a pizza delivery driver. Police said told detectives that he allowed his phone to be used to order a pizza to his block of residence with the intention of robbing the driver, but he denied being armed at the time.

Three days after his arrest, Toem appeared at a detention hearing but was subsequently released from custody.

Toem is due back in court June 12. Esquivel is next set to appear at the Skokie courthouse on June 14.

Earlier: 'Volatile And Violent' 18-Year-Old Crime Spree Suspect To Stay Behind Bars Ahead Of Trial

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