Serial robbery suspect allegedly wanted police to kill him
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN AND TINA SFONDELES Staff reporters February 21, 2013 11:38AM
Jesus Rosas, 23, faces nine counts of armed robbery, two counts of attempted armed robbery, four counts of aggravated assault to police with a motor-vehicle and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. / Chicago Police
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Updated: February 21, 2013 5:23PM
A 23-year-old armed robbery suspect allegedly told detectives he was suicidal and couldn’t bear to kill himself, so he went on a crime spree hoping police would shoot and end his life. “He actually wanted the police to kill him. He was conducting the robberies. He had a gun on him and he wanted police to kill him,” Anthony Riccio, Area Central commander said. “He had some problems in his life...and he felt he didn’t want to kill himself so he wanted the police to kill him.” The hunt for Police said Rosas initially began robbing stores on Jan. 18 to buy gifts for his girlfriend. But the relationship soured and the two broke up around Feb. 1, police said. He continued to rob stores until Feb. 19 with the sole intent of wanting police to shoot him. During some of the later robberies, Rosas stuck up not only cashiers, but customers, police said. All of the robberies happened between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. “This is an easy decision for me to make,” Cook County Judge James Brown said Thursday, ordering Rosas to be held without bail after listening to prosecutors detail the robberies and armed robberies he’s alleged to have committed. Rosas used a replica black handgun in the robberies at the fast food and convenient stores, assistant state’s attorney James Pontrelli said. Rosas often came into the businesses wearing a black hoodie and brandishing the fake weapon, Pontrelli said. He also was allegedly captured on camera in many of the robberies. When Rosas tried robbing a Subway on Valentine’s Day at 447 N. State St. and cocked his gun, the clerk, who has family in the military and grew up with guns, recognized the sound to be from a fake gun and refused to give Rosas money, Pontrelli said. Police said Rosas made away with as little as $74 in one robbery, and $850 in another. His black replica gun was found in the SUV after his arrest, according to a police report. Rosas was captured by surveillance cameras and identified by victims in many of the incidents, Pontrelli said. In court Thursday, Rosas, wearing blue hospital shirt and jeans, had an arm wrapped in a bandage. After the bond hearing, he hung his head low as he was escorted back by sheriff’s deputies.
