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Will It Be Jail Or A 2nd Chance? A High School Graduate Is Allegedly Involved With Several Armed Robberies Supposedly Received Scholarship To College

A Chicago young man has been allegedly connected with a string of robberies.  Recent high school graduate Bryce k.  McGill was arrested with the alleged stolen item on his person.  It seems the young man has been offered a scholarship to University of North Carolina (UNC) and at the time during the court appearance the scholarship could not be verified.  The judge presiding the case was clearly frustrated and somewhat concerned with the notification of the scholarship.  So the question that hangs in the balance is will the young man go to jail or will he be given a second chance?

Read more as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

Photo Credit: Chicago Police

A recent Lincoln Park High School graduate was ordered held on $150,000 bail Saturday in connection to a recent string of strongarm robberies in the Lakeview neighborhood.

Bryce K. McGill, 18, faces multiple counts of robbery and one count of aggravated robbery for several street robberies, at least three taking place on July 6 in the Boystown enclave in Lakeview, prosecutors said at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

In all of the attacks, McGill and an unnamed accomplice approached men and women on the street, and McGill would punch the victim in the face, prosecutors said. The pair then grabbed the proceeds, including iPhones and wallets, and fled on foot. McGill is connected to at least five robberies, including one in which he implied he had a handgun, prosecutors said.

Chicago police arrested McGill early Friday morning in the 900 block of West Waveland Avenue more than an hour after a robbery and found the proceeds from several robberies on him, according to prosecutors and McGill’s arrest report.

Saturday’s hearing took an emotional turn when McGill’s court-appointed attorney told the court during mitigation that McGill had graduated from high school last month and had received a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina.

A spokeswoman for UNC could not immediately verify the scholarship claim.

“UNC? Full ride?” Judge Peggy Chiampas asked loudly in the courtroom. “I need a break,” she said before briefly storming from the courtroom for a brief recess.

After returning, with McGill’s parents and two younger siblings looking on, the judge spoke of the frustration of regularly speaking with grade school and high school students about the importance of education, only to have a young man throw it all away.

“I don’t know what to say,” Chiampas said, throwing up her hands at the young man dressed in a Marquette T-shirt and shorts.

She said if he had a scholarship it could be easily taken away from him.

“Young man, that was gold in your hands, and I’m going to pray that it might still be available to you,” Chiampas said.

She ordered McGill’s family to provide proof of his scholarship at a hearing scheduled for next week.

McGill, of 300 block of East 89th Place, had no criminal background, prosecutors said.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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