Venezuelan migrants allegedly choke, rob Chicago man on train, video shows

New video exclusively obtained by Fox shows the moment a group of Venezuelan migrants allegedly attacked and robbed a 49-year-old man while he rode a Chicago commuter train in February. 

The violent knifepoint attack saw one of the migrants put the man in a vicious chokehold, leaving the victim unconscious, although he later recovered. The suspects were arrested and appeared in court today. Three have been ordered to remain in custody while one was let out on electronic monitoring.

The video from inside a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train shows two of the four suspects chatting and befriending the victim, who is standing and passing around a cellphone with them. One of the suspects appears to be smoking a cigarette or a joint and can be seen handing it to another person inside the subway car.

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Another video then shows all four migrants and the victim congregating inside the cab before one of the migrants – wearing a red baseball cap backward – lunges for the victim, grabs him from behind and puts him in a chokehold.

The migrant pulls the man to the ground in the chokehold before another migrant dressed in blue blocks the video camera.

When the camera is cleared – about 20 seconds later – the migrant in the red baseball cap can be seen over the man and appears to be rummaging through his pockets. 

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He then gets up and walks into the Pink Line train car and puts on his jacket. The train comes to a stop seconds later and the suspects then flee the train.

Chicago police identified the suspects as Fernando Loyo-Rodriguez, Wilker Gutierrez Sierra, Carlos Carreno-Carreno and Yonnier Guasamucare Garcia. Their ages range from 18 to 22 and police say they put a knife to the victim's throat and stole $400 and a cellphone from him. 

Police said the four men robbed and beat the man while the train was passing through the 2000 block of South Kostner Avenue on Feb. 17 at around 4:45 p.m.

They were arrested about 45 minutes later. Each gave a state-funded migrant shelter as an address.

Responding officers charged each of them with robbery and aggravated battery/strangulation. They have since been charged with attempted murder.

All four appeared in Cook County court today for a status-detention hearing.

Carreno-Carreno, Loyo-Rodriguez and Guasamucare Garcia are to remain in custody while Gutierrez Sierra was let out on electronic monitoring. 

The four were each represented by a separate public defender, did not look at or acknowledge each other in court, and only spoke to the judge through an interpreter. 

Their next hearing is on Aug. 28 for status on discovery.

Three of the migrant suspects were arrested for shoplifting about a month prior to the train attack.

The Venezuelan migrants had only been in the U.S. for a few months before the attack, while one had been in the country for just a month.

Immigration experts noted that three of the four defendants face deportation if convicted on felony charges.

Between August 2022 and February 2024, the city of Chicago received 35,000 migrants either bussed or flown up from the southern border. Thirteen thousand of them have been moved to shelters at the expense of taxpayers.

Fox News’ Michael Tobin and Bradford Benz contributed to this report.