Kevin Edwards' eyes got really big when he heard the possible penalty for his crimes.

"Gentleman, defendant one and two, you are charged with carjacking, it is a felony," read the clerk. "The penalty you will receive is life in prison or any term of years."

Edwards, a 28-year-old man stood next to 31-year-old Marius Robinson, who was equally surprised to hear the penalty.

"Mr. Robinson, have you heard the charges and penalty you can receive in your case?" asked the clerk.

"No," he responded.

The two men were arraigned Thursday on a string of carjackings that left a dizzying number of felony charges against the them. Both have been charged with 16 counts each. They include carjacking, armed robbery, receiving and concealing stolen property and felon in possession.


They're also charged with a total of eight more felony firearm counts.

Robinson and Edwards streamed into court after being arrested for a crime spree that police state began May 9. The two stole a car parked outside someone's home on Stahelin. But that was only the beginning. Then the men tried to rob a 64-year-old man near Rutland and Plymouth. When that failed, the men went after a woman on Wyoming Avenue 45 minutes later.

"She was approached by a suspect driving a dark-colored sedan who demanded her purse at gunpoint," said Assistant Chief James White, with the DPD.

After she complied, the men decided to test their luck over on West Chicago. There, they found a 34-year-old mother sitting in her car across the street from the Mackenzie Elementary Middle School.

"A male suspect approached her, opened the driver's door and put her out of her vehicle at gunpoint," said White.

But wait, there's still more. Then the men, who got away in a dark gray Chrysler 300, not 20 minutes later robbed and carjacked a man walking to his car on Joy Road.

In addition to the monopoly of felonies the two men face, they are also looking at other penalties connected to past convictions. Edwards is charged as a habitual offender. So is Robinson. Both were given a $300,000 cash bond.

They're due back in court in two weeks.