Man denied bail in attempted robbery on Green Line

A man was denied bail Tuesday after prosecutors told a judge he was on parole when he and an accomplice allegedly tried to rob a woman with a BB-gun on a Green Line train.

Kahari Williams, 22, and 20-year-old Rakara Reed each face a charge of aggravated attempted robbery in the incident on Sunday night, Cook County prosecutors said at a bail hearing.

Cook County court records show Williams was convicted of robbery in 2016 under the name Kahari Dixon and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was paroled in May last year from Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Reed, who is accused of participating in the attempted robbery, was ordered held on $20,000 bail.

About 10:45 p.m. Sunday, Williams and Reed allegedly tried to grab a 41-year-old woman’s purse while she was reading a book on a Green Line train as it pulled into the Laramie station, prosecutors said. When the woman tightened her grip on the purse, she was pulled to the floor, prosecutors said. She refused to hand over the purse even after Williams allegedly stepped off the train, then back on and pointed a black gun at her head. Williams and Reed walked away but were taken into custody “within minutes,” prosecutors said, and a black BB gun was found in the area of the incident at the station.