AirTag used to find suspects in the Red Line attack

Two men are accused of beating a grocery delivery driver and stealing his electric bike last week on a CTA Red Line train on the South Side.

A 20-year-old man boarded a train at 69th Street around 8am on December 22nd. After the 35th Street station, one of the two men displayed a knife while the other put the victim in a headlock, according to the court. documents.

Both suspects hit the man multiple times in the face and body. They took his electric bike and headphones, got off the train at Cermak Road, then boarded a southbound train, prosecutors said.

The victim had an Apple AirTag on his bicycle, which officers used, along with CTA surveillance footage, to track the men to a motel in the 7600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Greater Grand Crossing, where they were taken into custody in within an hour. of the attack, prosecutors said.

Christopher Owens, 20, and Claude Elder, 44, are each charged with one felony count of aggravated battery and aggravated robbery. Both were remanded in custody pending trial.

Their next court dates were set for Monday.