A 25-year-old Chicago man is facing multiple Class X felony charges after prosecutors say he took part in a violent armed robbery at Relax Spa on the 300 block of Howard Street in Evanston, where a suspect grabbed an employee by the throat, forced her into a bathroom, and coerced her into unlocking her iPhone with facial recognition to get into her banking app. Gary May Jr. was taken into custody more than seven weeks after the July 18 robbery and now sits in Cook County custody awaiting his next court date.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office charged May with two Class X felony counts of armed robbery with a firearm, two Class X felony counts of aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon, and two Class 3 felony counts of aggravated unlawful restraint, according to the Chicago Tribune. Police say one offender entered the spa, located at 327 West Howard Street, after 1 a.m. under the guise of requesting massage services before opening the locked front door to let two accomplices inside, according to Patch. The address sits steps from the CTA Howard station, right along the boundary line separating Evanston from Chicago.
Once inside, one suspect grabbed a spa employee by the throat and forced her into a bathroom, per police details reported by the Tribune. That suspect then forcibly used the employee's Face ID to unlock her iPhone and access her banking application, the outlet reports. Police have not specified what role May himself played in the robbery.
What the Offenders Took
The group fled with $1,500 in business proceeds and an additional $600 belonging to the spa employee, along with two credit cards and an iPhone, according to the Tribune's reporting. Officers did not respond to the scene until roughly 3:38 a.m. that morning, after receiving a delayed report of the robbery.
What followed was a weeks-long investigation. The Tribune reports that officers conducted an extensive follow-up effort involving surveillance video, financial evidence, digital evidence, witness information, and other leads. The Evanston Police Department ultimately obtained a State's Attorney's Office warrant for May's arrest on September 1.
Arrest on Chicago's South Side
Officers located May on the 500 block of West 44th Place in Chicago and took him into custody at approximately 2:02 p.m. on September 8, according to the Tribune. May resides on the 4700 block of South Union Avenue in Chicago. Per the same account, officials developed probable cause to detain him, as attributed to Ken Carter.
May appeared at the Skokie Courthouse for his detention hearing last Friday. The courthouse, at 5600 Old Orchard Road, serves as the Cook County Circuit Court's Second Municipal District headquarters, handling felony preliminary hearings and detention calls for Evanston and 15 other northern Cook County suburbs, according to the Circuit Court of Cook County. A judge ordered May to remain in custody, and his next court appearance is scheduled for October 6 at 9 a.m. at the same courthouse.
How Illinois' Bail Overhaul Applies Here
May's detention was decided under the standards set by the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act, part of the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail statewide in September 2023. Under that law, prosecutors seeking to hold someone before trial must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person poses a real and present threat to public safety or a high flight risk, according to the Johnson Law Group. Rather than setting a monetary bond, judges now weigh danger and flight risk directly.
The charges against May carry severe mandatory sentencing exposure if he is convicted. Armed robbery with a firearm under Illinois law is a Class X felony carrying a mandatory base prison term of 6 to 30 years with no probation eligibility, plus a mandatory 15-year firearm enhancement that can push total exposure to 21 to 45 years, according to DeRango & Cain, LLC. Aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon is likewise a Class X felony, punishable by 6 to 30 years in state prison, per Stavros Law Offices. An arrest, however, does not constitute a conviction.
Two Accomplices Still Sought
The investigation remains active, and Evanston police are still searching for the two other people accused of taking part in the robbery. The department is encouraging anyone with information to contact investigators, and has asked members of the public to submit anonymous tips by texting EPDTIP followed by the information to 274637, per Patch's reporting.
The case fits into a broader pattern of multi-suspect armed robbery crews operating in and around the Howard Street corridor and greater Cook County this year. Hoodline previously reported on a masked crew targeting commercial and street victims just across the Evanston line in Chicago's 24th Police District. Evanston recorded 78 robbery offenses and 575 simple assault offenses in 2022, according to StatisNostics data, underscoring that commercial armed robberies like the one at Relax Spa remain a small fraction of the city's overall reported crime.
