A Chicago Park District worker cleaning a median near Ida B. Wells Drive and Columbus Drive was allegedly forced into a white Kia Sportage on August 22 and driven to a string of South Loop banks and pharmacies, where prosecutors say his captors made him withdraw cash and buy gift cards before letting him go on a street corner.
The 31-year-old employee was working near Grant Park’s Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain, a landmark that has anchored the nearly 320-acre park since 1927, according to the Chicago Park District. Prosecutors say two accomplices ordered the worker into the Sportage, and the vehicle’s driver, 26-year-old Marian Asa of suburban Seattle, is accused of kidnapping and robbing him in what prosecutors described as a random attack, according to CWB Chicago.
From there, the outlet reports, Asa allegedly drove the employee to the CVS at 520 South State Street, the Fifth Third Bank at 601 South Clark Street, and Walgreens locations at 2 East Roosevelt Road and 501 West Roosevelt Road in the South Loop. At the bank, the employee withdrew $1,000 in cash; at the Walgreens on Roosevelt Road, which sold Mastercard gift cards rather than Visa, he purchased a $500 Visa gift card and then a second $500 Visa gift card at another stop, per the same account. A separate attempted purchase of another Visa gift card was declined, the outlet notes, and Asa allegedly took the employee’s cash and receipt before warning him not to tell anyone what happened and threatening him with harm from the accomplices.
Coworkers Alerted Police After Finding Abandoned Tools
Asa eventually left the employee on a street corner, according to the report. Meanwhile, the worker’s coworkers had already found his tools and work bucket sitting untouched at his post near the median, prompting them to bring him in to file a police report once he resurfaced…