Man behind infamous 2017 Facebook torture case arrested again

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Summary: A 48-year-old Cicero man was chased, punched, spat on, and robbed of his bicycle by Tesfaye Cooper, 30, and Mazi Pearson, 33, at the Clark-Lake CTA station in Chicago, Illinois, on April 8, 2026. The pair claimed to be Gangster Disciples before the attack on the mezzanine, where a security guard witnessed the incident. Cooper faces robbery charges while Pearson also faces drug possession counts, reports say.

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CHICAGO — A 30-year-old man convicted in a widely publicized 2017 kidnapping and torture case was arrested last Wednesday afternoon in connection with a daylight robbery at one of downtown Chicago’s busiest CTA stations.

The episode began around 1:30 p.m. near Clark and Lake streets. A 48-year-old man from Cicero was riding his bicycle when he waved at two individuals standing nearby. Court records show the pair responded by identifying themselves as members of the Gangster Disciples street gang and immediately gave chase. The bicyclist pedaled into the Clark-Lake CTA station, swiped through the turnstile, and tried to put distance between himself and his pursuers. The two men followed him onto the mezzanine, cornering him against an elevator.

There, prosecutors say, 33-year-old Mazi Pearson punched the victim in the shoulder while Tesfaye Cooper attempted to strike him and spat in his face. The attackers then seized the man’s bicycle and fled the station. A CTA security guard observed the entire confrontation and alerted police, who detained both suspects a short time later in the immediate vicinity.

Cooper was charged with robbery. Pearson faces the same robbery count plus two drug-possession charges after officers recovered heroin and cocaine from him at the time of arrest. The victim suffered minor injuries during the assault but did not require hospitalization.

The case has drawn attention because of Cooper’s prior conviction. In 2017 he was one of four people involved in the kidnapping and livestreamed torture of a disabled man, an episode that shocked the city and the nation. He served time for that crime before his release.

In late December 2016, an 18-year-old white mentally disabled man from a Chicago suburb was dropped off by his parents at a McDonald's in Streamwood, Illinois, to meet Jordan Hill, a former school acquaintance from Aurora.

Hill, who had stolen a van, picked up the victim and kept him sleeping in the vehicle for several days while visiting friends on Chicago's West Side. On January 3, 2017, Hill and Tesfaye "Teefies" Cooper drove the victim to an apartment shared by sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington.

There, the four perpetrators—two Black men and two Black women—tied up, beat, and racially abused the victim for hours. They laughed while gagging him, cutting part of his scalp with a knife, forcing him to drink from a toilet, and making him kiss the floor. The attackers screamed racial slurs including "Fuck white people" and coerced the victim into shouting "Fuck Trump." One demanded a $300 ransom from the victim's mother.

Brittany Covington livestreamed portions of the assault on Facebook Live. The four were arrested after police spotted the bloodied and disoriented victim walking with Hill in winter clothing that included a tank top and sandals. All received plea deals on hate crime, kidnapping, and related charges, with sentences ranging from probation to eight years in prison.

Authorities say the latest incident unfolded swiftly thanks to the quick actions of the transit security guard and responding officers. Cooper and Pearson remain in custody as the case moves forward in Cook County court.

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