Migrant gets plea deal in ARC Music Fest robbery as co-defendant disappears

Considered one of two Venezuelan migrants accused of robbing ARC Music Pageant attendees of expensive gold chains final summer time has been despatched to jail — briefly. The opposite? He skipped court docket and disappeared.

Jonas Alcala-Arteaga, 31, was sentenced to 1 12 months in jail after not too long ago slicing a plea take care of prosecutors. Chicago police arrested him at Union Park on September 1, 2024, through the pageant, a serious digital music occasion that attracts 1000’s.

A 37-year-old Schaumburg man advised police somebody stepped on his foot shortly after he entered the park round 6 p.m. When he confronted the individual, Alcala-Arteaga allegedly ripped a gold chain and medallion from his neck and bolted, in response to a CPD report.

The sufferer noticed Alcala-Arteaga once more about quarter-hour later, however he ran off a second time. The third time was the appeal: when the person encountered him but once more, Alcala-Arteaga tried to flee — and face-planted. The sufferer held him till safety arrived.

On the time, Alcala-Arteaga was already on pretrial launch for felony possession of a stolen automobile. However in a take care of prosecutors, he was allowed to plead responsible to downgraded fees: felony possession of misplaced or mislaid property within the chain-snatching case and misdemeanor felony trespass within the auto case.

Choose James Novy sentenced him to 1 12 months for the theft and 180 days for the trespassing, to be served concurrently. However Alcala-Arteaga had already logged 284 days in Cook dinner County Jail, so he solely spent 4 days in state jail earlier than being launched, in response to the Illinois Division of Corrections.

About an hour after that incident, one other man — Yunior Amaro-Blanco, 25 — allegedly grabbed a 25-year-old festivalgoer and yanked two gold chains value $6,000 from his neck. That sufferer shortly tackled Amaro-Blanco and held him till safety arrived, in response to a separate CPD report. One of many chains was recovered.

Amaro-Blanco, additionally charged with theft, stopped displaying up for court docket in March. A choose issued a warrant for his arrest in April, and he’s been on the run since.