Teen, retired cop mugged on same block in Roscoe Village

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 14-year-old boy was mugged in Roscoe Village after leaving a CTA stop just a few feet from where a retired cop was attacked the night before.

The two muggings, 18 hours apart, took place on basically the same residential street corner. The latest incident happened Tuesday afternoon as the young victim was coming home from school.

Daniel Kelly said it happened in a flash, just after he had left the Addison Brown Line stop around 4 p.m.

"He just came, took my phone, took off. It took me a couple seconds to realize what had happened because it's just not something that happens in this neighborhood," Daniel said.

As he walked alone near Wolcott and Cornelia, Daniel said he pulled out his phone.

"One of my friends texted me, and I checked my phone quickly. I was texting him back, and the guy came in, snatched it, and took off," Daniel said.

"It's upsetting when you hear about it to somebody's else's child, but when it's your child, it really has a big impact," said Bob Kelly, his father. "I really think it has to do with the low level of police staffing in our neighborhood."

The incident happened on about the same block where police said a woman was mugged late Monday night.

RETIRED POLICE OFFICER ROBBED OUTSIDE HOME

A robber knocked down a woman and stole her purse while she was in the yard of her Roscoe Village home around 10:40 p.m. Monday, police said.

The victim, a retired Chicago police officer, was attacked after coming home from the movie theater. She had parked her car in her garage in the 1800-block of W. Cornelia when she saw a man trying to jump over the fence, so she yelled at him. He charged at her, she said, and grabbed at her purse.

The woman fought with the offender and fell to the ground, hitting her head on the ground. She screamed and her husband and neighbors came running.

"We heard her yell, 'They got me. They got my purse.' We ran outside," Tony Glanz said.

The offender was spotted a few houses away and the victim's husband gave chase down Newport. He got away with the woman's purse, which had her wallet, cell phone and retired Chicago Police Department star inside.

Chicago police officers found a cell phone, which they said may belong to the attacker, at the scene.

The victim was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she received stitches to her head and was released.

In both incidents, the suspect is described as a teenage African-American male with a skinny build. It's unclear if the same person was involved in both incidents.