New video obtained exclusively by Fox shows the moment a 49-year-old man was allegedly attacked and robbed by a group of Venezuelan migrants while riding a Chicago commuter train in February.
“In the violent knife attack, one of the migrants applied a strong chokehold to the man, rendering the victim unconscious before regaining consciousness. The suspects were arrested and appeared in court today. Three were given detention orders and one was released under electronic monitoring.”
Video taken on a CTA train shows two of the four suspects conversing and fraternizing with the victim, who is standing and passing a cell phone around to the suspects. One of the suspects appears to smoke a cigarette or marijuana and can be seen handing it to another person inside the subway car.
Chicago police arrest four Venezuelan immigrants for allegedly strangling and robbing man on train
Suspects in the February attack, from left, Fernando Royo Rodriguez, Wilker Gutierrez Sierra, Carlos Carreño Carreño and Yonie Guasamcale Garcia. (Chicago Police Department, Mug Shot, Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service, background via Getty Images)
Another video shows all four migrants and the victim gathered inside a taxi before one of them – wearing a red baseball cap backwards – leaps on the victim, grabbing him from behind and choking him.
The migrant pulls the man to the ground as another migrant dressed in blue blocks the video camera.
About 20 seconds later, the camera cuts off and a migrant wearing a red baseball cap can be seen above the man’s head, appearing to rifle through the man’s pockets.
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The suspect then stands up, enters a Pink Line carriage and puts on a jacket. Seconds later, the train comes to a halt and the suspect runs off the train.
Chicago police identified four suspects, Fernando Royo Rodriguez, Wilker Gutierrez Sierra, Carlos Carreno Carreno and Yonie Guasamcale Garcia, ages 18 to 22, as the men who police say held a knife to the victim’s throat and stole $400 in cash and a cellphone.
Police say the four men robbed and beat a man around 4:45 p.m. on Feb. 17 as the train was passing through the 2000 block of South Costner Avenue.
They were arrested about 45 minutes later. They each gave the address of a state-funded migrant shelter.
Responding officers charged them with robbery and aggravated assault/strangulation, and they were later charged with attempted murder.
All four appeared in Cook County Court today for a detention hearing.
Carreno Carreno, Royo Rodriguez and Guasamcale Garcia remain in custody, while Gutierrez Sierra has been released under electronic monitoring.
Each of the four was represented by a different public defender, did not see or acknowledge one another in court, and spoke only to the judge through an interpreter.
The next hearing on the status of discovery will be held on August 28th.
One of the suspects stood in front of the cameras shortly after the February attack. (Chicago Transit Authority)
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Three of the suspected immigrants had been arrested for shoplifting about a month before the train attack.
The Venezuelan migrants had only been in the U.S. for a few months before the attack, including one who had been in the country for just a month.
Immigration experts said three of the four defendants could face deportation if convicted of felony crimes.
Between August 2022 and February 2024, the city of Chicago received 35,000 migrants who arrived by bus or plane from the southern border, 13,000 of whom were placed in shelters at taxpayer expense.
Fox News’ Michael Tobin and Bradford Bentz contributed to this report.
