A 33-year-old Chicago man is facing charges after police say he exposed himself and touched his genitals in front of two teenagers inside a Starbucks on Evanston's Central Street this summer, then vanished before officers arrived. Tyreese M. Russell was arrested more than seven weeks later, on Sept. 18, and now faces one count of sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of public indecency.
According to CBS News, officers were called to the Starbucks at 3330 Central St., near Crawford Avenue and Gross Point Road in northwest Evanston, at 1 p.m. on July 28. Police say Russell appeared to be recording the two teens, ages 16 and 17, with his cellphone, and that he exposed himself and touched his genitals in front of them. One of the teens confronted him before he left the scene ahead of officers' arrival, the outlet reports.
Investigation Led to Chicago Address
The case sat open for weeks before detectives connected Russell to the incident. Per the same CBS Chicago report, an Evanston police investigation identified Russell as a suspect, and the department's Special Operations Group later located his vehicle parked in front of his residence on Chicago's South Side.
Detectives took Russell into custody there, according to police. He appeared before a judge at the Skokie Cook County Courthouse and remained in custody as of Thursday, the station reported, with a court date set for Oct. 14.
A Similar Case Months Earlier in Joliet
The Evanston allegations echo an earlier case involving Russell in the southwest suburbs. According to Patch, Russell was accused of exposing his sex organ at the Fun Flatables indoor play center inside the Louis Joliet Mall on Dec. 10, 2025. He was charged with public indecency and disorderly conduct in that case, with the disorderly conduct count alleging he masturbated in the presence of another person and disturbed or alarmed that person, Patch reported.
The Will County Sheriff's Office arrested Russell in connection with the Joliet Mall case and booked him into the Will County Jail on the morning of Jan. 29, 2026, per Patch's reporting. He was released from that jail by 3 p.m. the next day. A warrant condition in that case barred Russell from coming within 300 feet of schools, parks, or other places designed for children, according to the same report.
Evanston's Broader Crime Picture
The Starbucks case comes as Evanston's overall crime numbers have been trending downward. The city recorded 3,420 total incidents in 2025, a decrease of nearly 18 percent from the 4,186 incidents logged in 2024, according to Patch. Crimes against persons fell to 730 from 882 the year before, and the city reported zero murders for the second consecutive year, the outlet noted. Property crimes dropped to 2,562 incidents, an 18.36 percent decline, while crimes against society fell nearly 23 percent to 128 incidents.
None of those citywide figures are specific to the Starbucks incident, but they offer context for a city that has otherwise been reporting broad declines in reported offenses even as this case unfolded. Russell's next court appearance in the Evanston case is scheduled for Oct. 14.
