Violent Robbery Witnessed By Police Leads To Drug Charge: Cops

EVANSTON, IL — After an Evanston police officer happened upon a violent robbery in progress Sunday night, one man has been charged with two felonies and investigators are seeking to identify another. Shortly before 11 p.m., an officer on patrol witnessed two men in black hooded sweatshirts punching and kicking a person on the ground in the 1400 block of Ridge Avenue. When the assailants noticed the cop, both men took off running north, police said.

The officer spoke with the person on the ground, an 18-year-old Evanston man, who said the two men who had been beating him had just stolen his cell phone, according to Evanston Police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan. He suffered a bloody nose and swelling around his right eye and was treated by the Evanston Fire Department.

The officer searched the surrounding area and discovered a suspect in the beating and robbery hiding in some bushes in the 1500 block of Oak Avenue, roughly one block north and one block east of the site of the robbery. He was taken into custody. Neither the second suspect nor the stolen cell phone was found during the initial search, according to Dugan. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Evanston — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Maehsh S. Chisholm, 22, of the 2000 block of Emerson Street, was the man found in bushes, according to police.

Police said they found two pills of Xanax on his person when he was taken into custody. He has been charged with one count of robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, both are felonies.

An investigation is currently underway to identify the second suspect, who was last seen wearing a black hoodie and light blue jeans, according to Dugan. He asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the Evanston Police Department at 847-866-5040 or text tips to CRIMES (274637) and enter EPDTIP in the message line, followed by the tip information.