Shortly before 1:00pm on Sunday, Galesburg Police met with a 54-year-old man who came into the Public Safety Building and reported being pepper-sprayed and robbed. The man was transported to OSF for an evaluation. The man told police he was contacted by a 25-year-old man, whom the victim is friends with, and was asked to come pick him up. The victim told police he picked up the other man and the other man asked to use the victim’s cell phone. The victim told police he was “weary” of letting the other man use his phone, but he parked and let him use it. When the call was completed, the 25-year-old man would not give the other man his phone back and attempted to leave. When the victim grabbed him by the shirt, the suspect punched the other man numerous times and then sprayed him with pepper spray. The suspect then demanded the victim’s wallet and threatened him with a knife. A struggle continued, and then the suspect fled with the victim’s cell phone into an apartment building on North Cedar Street. Inside the victim’s truck, police found the pocket knife, pepper spray, and a burnt cigarette belonging to the suspect. Police were able to confirm the identity of the other man but were unable to locate him at the time of the police report. He was added to the Pending Arrest List for charges of Armed Robbery.
