Jan. 14--Chicago Police questioned an 18-year-old man in connection with last month's robbery of Mayor Emanuel's son and released him Tuesday evening without charges, according to a police source.
RedEye is not naming the man because he was not charged with a crime. He had been taken into custody at 9:40 a.m. Monday in the 900 block of West Wilson Avenue in Uptown, according to a police report, and the iPhone that was taken in the stickup has been found.
Police spokesman Marty Maloney denied an arrest had occurred and did not answer other questions from RedEye. Representatives of the mayor did not return requests for comment.
When reached by RedEye, the 18-year-old's mother confirmed police took her son into custody Monday to question him about a stolen iPhone. She said she didn't know the questioning was related to the Emanuel case.
The mother said her son did not steal the phone but got it from a friend of his and later sold it on the Internet. She said her son plans to graduate high school in June and go to college.
"[He] said he didn't touch anybody. He got the phone from another kid," the mother said.
The mayor's son, Zach, reported being robbed of his iPhone and assaulted while in the 4200 block of North Hermitage Avenue, across the street and a few houses down from the Emanuel's Ravenswood home, the night of Dec. 19. At a press conference this month, Mayor Emanuel said his son was on the phone with his college counselor at the time of the incident.
Zach Emanuel said two men approached him from behind and one man "placed his arm around the victim's neck in a rear chokehold," while the second one struck Emanuel with a fist, knocking him to the ground, according to a police report. The robbers took Zach Emanuel's phone and patted him down, the police report said.
"The offenders then asked the victim, 'What else you got?' [and] forced the victim to enter his security code to unlock the phone," according to the police report.
Zach Emanuel was treated for cuts and bruises at home by the family's physician.
Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner contributed to this report.
