Court filing reveals new details of home invasion linked to a Chicago rapper
Published in News & Features
CHICAGO — The masked home invaders that ransacked a Winnetka, Illinois, residence in search of cryptocurrency accounts in March held a person face-down on the ground as a child ran for help, new court filings allege.
A criminal complaint filed in Chicago federal court on Wednesday reveals new details in the high-profile invasion, which allegedly involved a Chicago rapper. The extended narrative emerges after federal prosecutors announced robbery and kidnapping charges in the case this week, nearly two months after the incident made headlines.
Prosecutors initially announced charges against six, including Chicago rapper Lil Zay Osama, whose real name is Isaiah Dukes.
Alongside 28-year-old Dukes, who now lives in Los Angeles, defendants include Khiell Dukes, 30 of Elgin; Anthony Ramsey, 22 of Chicago; Dashun Brown, 24 of Chicago; David Franklin, 24 of Chicago; and Jalen Chambers, 24 of Bourbonnais, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office. Court filings from separate litigation indicate Khiell Dukes is Dukes’ brother and Ramsey is the rapper’s half-brother.
The complaint filed Wednesday names a seventh defendant, Tyrese Fenton-Watson, who was arrested a day prior, filings show. After an initial appearance at the Dirksen Federal Building on Wednesday, Fenton-Watson was held pending a detention hearing before U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston in Rockford next week.
The new filing recounts how events allegedly unfolded in the March 8 invasion, starting days before the break-in.
The co-conspirators’ plan allegedly centered around stealing cryptocurrency. The target of the robbery, identified in filings as Victim A, was the owner of a cryptocurrency business that they operated out of their Winnetka home.
On March 2, a black SUV used in the alleged robbery was reportedly stolen, the complaint states. The filing, citing cellphone data, further alleges that the night before the break-in, Isaiah Dukes and Khiell Dukes were in the area of the victim’s home.
The following morning, hours before the invasion occurred, surveillance footage shows Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes, Ramsey and Chambers were apparently at an Elgin hotel, the complaint states. Later that afternoon, they allegedly traveled together from the hotel to the area of the victim’s residence and remained close by during the invasion.
Meanwhile, Fenton-Watson, Chambers, Brown, Franklin and one other co-conspirator allegedly saw the invasion through. They arrived at the target home in the stolen SUV just after 4:20 p.m., the filings state.
Brown approached the home first, carrying a brown Outback Steakhouse bag. A different resident, identified in filings as Victim B, opened the door. Brown asked if anyone had ordered food and entered through the front door. The other four co-conspirators then ran inside after him, the complaint alleges.
Once inside, the offenders physically restrained Victim B, who was the only person home at the time. The offenders then allegedly demanded access to a safe, a computer and accounts holding cryptocurrency.
Victim B relayed to law enforcement, filings state, that they had at first told co-conspirators there wasn’t a safe in the home, but relented at gunpoint that there was one. Still at gunpoint, Victim B took the offenders to the safe in an upstairs closet and opened it, then watched as the offenders took a laptop housed inside.
The offenders directed Victim B back downstairs, then pushed Victim B to the ground, the complaint alleges. As Victim B lay face down, a child entered the home. Victim B then allegedly shouted to the child to get out and call police. Victim B was ultimately able to escape after biting the finger of the person holding them, allowing them to break free and flee the residence.
Victim A returned to the home just before 5:30 p.m. and watched as Victim B fled the home, filings state. While Victim A called the police, they observed the co-conspirators leaving and driving away. Federal prosecutors have alleged that after escaping, the home invaders met up with Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes, Ramsey and other co-conspirators, who checked to ensure all the proceeds from the robbery were collected.
Surveying their home after the offenders had fled, Victim A told police that three Rolex watches and their work laptop were missing.
A break in the case came three days after the invasion, when law enforcement recovered the stolen SUV used in the alleged crime on Chicago’s Southwest Side, about 27 miles away from Winnetka. Authorities found, among other items, a receipt from a Chicago Lawn McDonald’s dated in the early hours of March 11. Surveillance footage from the South Side restaurant partly allowed authorities to identify one of the co-conspirators.
Authorities tied Fenton-Watson to the alleged crime through Bluetooth records downloaded from the recovered SUV, the complaint recounts.
Authorities made their first round of arrests in connection to the invasion after reports of a similar crime in Northbrook. On March 20, Northbrook police responded to a 911 call reporting a home invasion. Court filings further allege that two armed men had forcibly entered a Northbrook residence and beat a resident inside with a firearm as they tried to rob the home. The men fled in a white sedan and a police chase ensued. The sedan traveled all the way down to a residence in the West Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side. Authorities observed four men exit the sedan and flee inside.
After executing a search warrant on the residence, authorities found Brown, Ramsey and two others inside.
On March 21, Northbrook police announced it was investigating both home invasions in partnership with local and federal authorities and that persons of interest were in custody.
Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes and Chambers were arrested nearly three weeks later on April 10, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Insight into the alleged crime initially started to unfold earlier this week after Johnston, the federal judge handling proceedings out of Rockford, unsealed a superseding indictment in the case. Johnston unsealed the seven-page document following a marathon four-hour detention hearing for Isaiah Dukes, who was ultimately ordered detained as he awaits trial.
On Thursday, a court docket showed Isaiah Dukes’ attorney filed a motion to withdraw as the rapper’s representation.
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Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed.
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