Two Gary men charged with armed robbery
Armed robbery charges have been filed against two Gary men after a woman was robbed of her cash and cellphone when she answered a Craigslist ad for a pair of shoes.
Xavier Drew, 21, of the 3500 block of Buchanan Street, and Deandre M. Gardner, 18, of the 3600 block of Pierce Street, are charged with robbing the woman on Dec. 21. The victim told police she went to 35th Avenue and Grant Street in Gary to meet a person later identified as Gardner to purchase the shoes.
Gardner got out of a car driven by a man later identified as Drew and got into the woman’s car, put a revolver in her face and said, “It’s been really easy, now give me the money,” the probable cause affidavit states.
The woman told police that Gardner took the money and a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, got into the car and fled, records state.
The woman described the driver and car and noted the license plate number, which led police to Drew. Drew, who fit the description from the victim, sold the woman’s phone at a kiosk at Southlake Mall, records state.
Gardner has two similar armed robbery cases pending and an attempted murder case involving a Gary police officer working undercover who was struck in the head by a gun during a robbery attempt.
Boyfriend accused taking cash meant to buy car
Charges of robbery resulting in bodily injury and theft have been filed in Lake Superior Court against an Illinois man accused of robbing his girlfriend of more than $2,500 she planned to use to buy a car.
Dion Eugene Harris, 31, of Kankakee, became angry at his then-girlfriend when she refused to give him $50, and the couple who had been dating for two months started arguing, court records state.
The woman told police that about 10 a.m. Oct. 4, he came to her apartment in the 1600 block of East 7th Avenue in Gary. He had taken her to look at cars the day before. She was sitting on the couch counting money as she waited for a friend to take her to look at cars when Harris struck her and took the cash, court records state.
The woman told police her back had been hurting since the incident but she did not seek medical treatment.
— Ruth Ann Krause
