Dec. 31--Looking at his friend's Twitter feed a day after he was robbed at gunpoint on a South Side street, a 21-year-old man saw a picture of the teen who robbed him, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Using that information, GPS data from the man's stolen iPhone and the teen's own tweets about his handgun and a prior stop by police, detectives tracked down Steven McGee, 17, who was arrested at his Washington Park apartment Monday.
McGee, also known as Caper, appeared in court for the first time Wednesday charged as an adult with armed robbery. A judge ordered the teen held on $300,000 bail.
On Dec. 16, the 21-year-old man had parked his car off an alley in the 4600 block of South Greenwood Avenue and got out of it when McGee and another person approached, said Assistant State's Attorney Alex Molesky.
McGee allegedly pointed a handgun with a laser sight at the man -- the laser's red dot on the man's chest -- and demanded his property, she said. The man turned over his phone, wallet and about $100 and the two people fled, Molesky said.
The victim contacted police and provided a description of the person who robbed him, including his hairstyle and the black Pelle Pelle coat he was wearing, she said.
A day later, the man was looking at his friend's Twitter feed, saw a retweet from McGee's Twitter account and recognized him as the person who robbed him, wearing the same coat, Molesky said.
The man used an app to track his iPhone, which showed it was in the area of 60th Street and Indiana Avenue, she said. He then contacted police.
Detectives were unable to track the phone but found McGee's information based on his Twitter account, seeing that he had previously tweeted about being stopped by police, she said. The detectives then found the contact card for that stop.
That information, along with McGee's driver's license information, showed that he lived in the 6000 block of South Indiana, she said. Detectives also saw that McGee had tweeted about his gun on the day of the robbery.
The victim identified McGee in a photo array. A police search of the apartment McGee shares with his mother uncovered a firearm with an extended magazine clip, Molesky said.
McGee's attorney said her client was a senior at Innovations High School, had enlisted in the Army and was scheduled to leave for basic training Monday.
sschmadeke@tribune.com
Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
