Feb. 25--A Cook County judge on Tuesday quadrupled the bail amount for a man charged with disarming a police officer outside a Walgreens store and trying to shoot the cop and his partner.
Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. raised bail to $2 million for Thomas Thompson after prosecutors detailed his 2012 conviction for violating an order of protection.
While on probation for that offense, a friend of Thompson's contacted Arlington Heights police after Thompson texted him to say he felt homicidal toward his ex-wife and her family, prosecutors said. Thompson had also sent 21 angry and profane texts to his ex-wife in violation of the protection order, prosecutors said.
Police have said that Thompson disarmed the officer after trying to flee a Walgreens in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood after shoplifting pills and other items Feb. 14.
Thompson fired one shot before a Walgreens employee, Ray Robinson, forced his fingers off the trigger as the officers wrestled with the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Thompson, authorities have said.
In an interview Sunday with the Tribune, Robinson said the struggle took a few seconds but seemed like an eternity. He later noticed that his work uniform was covered with blood from one of the officers who, according to charges, was punched by Thompson.
"I just knew they needed help," said the soft-spoken Robinson, who is about 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds.
Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors are calling Robinson a hero after he aided in the arrest of Thompson, 33, an Army veteran who was charged with attempted first-degree murder, disarming a police officer and possession of a controlled substance after, police said, he was found with cocaine.
The day of the incident was just like any other for Robinson, 48, who works as a "shift lead" at the Walgreens, 5440 N. Clark St. Around 8 p.m., he was placing advertising tags in the vitamin aisle when Thompson approached and asked him for fish oil pills.
Alerted by co-workers who indicated they saw Thompson trying to steal the items, Robinson ran up the center aisle of the store and to the candy aisle near the front door. He saw Thompson leave the store while holding a cranberry vitamin drink in one hand and another item in his other, activating the alarm.
After grabbing an item from Thompson's hand and telling him to come back inside, Robinson saw two police officers in an SUV in the parking lot.
"I think they probably saw what was happening," he said.
Robinson and the officers confronted Thompson as he tried to walk away from the store. Robinson then went through the bag and found testosterone boosters, fitness pills, cranberry juice and other items.
The officers were about to arrest Thompson when he bolted toward a car nearby.
The officers caught up with him at a car, and the three struggled, Robinson said. Thompson then is accused of turning and punching an officer in the face.
The other officer told Robinson, who was standing away from the group, to call 911 on his cellphone. But there wasn't time.
The two officers were trying to grab Thompson's hoodie, Robinson recalled. Thompson, however, was able to break free.
"He's going for my gun!" Robinson heard one of the officers shout. "I believe I heard him say, 'He's got my gun.'
"In my mind, it played out for a whole hour, just the time span. So fast, (but) it took forever," Robinson said. "I'm thinking, the cops don't have control of the situation. It's getting really dicey. ... They need help."
Robinson then dropped his phone and dived in to join the struggle. He didn't see Thompson disarm the officer but heard the gunshot -- which didn't injure anyone -- "as soon as I jumped in, or right before I jumped in."
Robinson saw the gun when one of the officers emerged from the pile. Thompson pointed the gun over his own shoulder, Robinson said.
Still on the ground, Robinson grabbed Thompson's hand and "pushed it to the ground so he could not reach over and try to keep firing."
"I grabbed his hand; I forced (the gun) to the cement," Robinson said. "By the grace of God, I was able to get my other arm up there and was able to pry his finger off the trigger."
One of the officers was then able to force the gun out of Thompson's hand. The gun's magazine also became detached from the gun during the struggle.
A former high school wrestler, Robinson was able to hold his own with Thompson while on the ground but knew he wouldn't have had a chance if they had both been standing.
"He was like a bull in a china shop," Robinson said of Thompson.
Moments later, backup officers arrived, and Robinson walked back into the store.
"I felt my whole side, it was just soaking wet from so much blood (from one of the officers)," said Robinson, who suffered scrapes. "It looks like I was hit with a shotgun."
The two officers were hospitalized with injuries, Deputy Chief Dana Alexander said after the incident.
Prosecutors and Thompson's court-appointed lawyer said he has no criminal background, one child and served in the Army for two years with an honorable discharge.
Robinson is modest about being dubbed a hero by authorities.
"What can you say about that?" he said. "I felt like I just did what I had to do at that moment, and I wouldn't want to see anybody have to do that.
"I would not recommend it. Things could've come out way different."
sschmadeke@tribpub.com
