2 charged with kidnapping, robbing man as he left Gold Coast bar may have targeted other victims, prosecutors say

A man’s quick thinking saves him during a terrifying abduction in Chicago

A man kidnapped at gunpoint after leaving a Gold Coast bar last month caught an extraordinary break during the terrifying ordeal: prosecutors say he found a previous robbery victim’s cellphone inside his abductors’ SUV and secretly hid it so he could call for help when the chance came. Now, two men are charged in that case and could face additional charges in a string of similar robberies.

Kareem Burnett, 50, and Lamont Gary, 51, are each charged with armed robbery and armed kidnapping in connection with the March 14 abduction and robbery. Judge Antara Rivera ordered both men detained pending trial.

Prosecutors said the 27-year-old victim was walking home from The Hangge-Uppe, 14 West Elm Street, shortly before 4 a.m., when a white SUV pulled alongside him. The passenger called him over, then lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun tucked into his waistband and ordered the man into the vehicle. The victim complied.

Once he was inside, the two men demanded his wallet, personal cellphone, and work phone, then ordered him to provide passwords for his phones and banking accounts, according to a detention filing.

The kidnappers proceeded to drive the victim to various ATMs to withdraw money. At one location, prosecutors said, they ordered him to empty his account, but the transaction was declined. They then drove to another bank drive-through and forced him to make additional withdrawal attempts, which also failed.

As the men became increasingly agitated while heading to a third location, the victim noticed an iPhone under the front passenger seat, prosecutors said. He quietly grabbed the device and concealed it on his person.

The men eventually stopped at a 7-Eleven in River North and told the victim to go inside and withdraw cash from an ATM while they circled the block, according to prosecutors. But employees would not allow him inside the store. When he no longer saw the SUV nearby, he used the recovered phone to place an emergency 911 call, bringing Chicago police to the scene.

The next day, the victim discovered that someone had withdrawn $324 from an ATM minutes after he was dropped off at the store, prosecutors said.

During the investigation, detectives learned one of the banks where the man’s withdrawal attempt failed was the Wintrust branch at 100 West North Avenue, a location tied to similar incidents, according to court filings. Police reviewed surveillance footage and saw a Lincoln MKT registered to Gary entering the lot at the same time the victim was brought there, prosecutors allege.

After obtaining a search warrant, detectives began tracking Gary’s vehicle and found that it regularly traveled through the same general area where the robbery occurred during early morning hours, according to the detention filing.

At 4;23 a.m. on March 21, one week after the robbery, Chicago police stopped the Lincoln for a traffic violation in the South Loop with Gary driving and Burnett in the front passenger seat, prosecutors said. The stop was captured on body-worn camera video.

Based on that information, investigators placed both men in separate photo lineups, and the victim identified Gary as the driver and Burnett as the armed passenger, according to prosecutors.

Detectives also searched the iPhone that the victim found during the kidnapping and determined it belonged to a man who was robbed on February 28 after two men approached him outside The Hangge-Uppe, prosecutors said.

Authorities are also investigating another robbery reported on March 7 at 1:15 a.m. near Division and Wells streets that allegedly involved the same Lincoln and two offenders. No charges have been filed in the February 28 or March 7 incidents.

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