Parolee charged in South Loop attack over cigarettes, again

A recent prison parolee -- convicted last year of beating up a couple who refused to give him a cigarette -- was charged again Wednesday after allegedly threatening a woman in the South Loop who refused to give him a smoke.
Derrick King, 47, is charged with a misdemeanor count of assault and was being held on a warrant for violation of probation, according to police News Affairs.King approached a 49-year-old woman about 3:20 a.m. near a store in the 500 block of West Roosevelt Road and asked her for a cigarette, police said. When she declined, King said, “Remember the couple who got beat up real bad for not giving a cigarette, that was me!” He then allegedly charged towards the woman, police said.
The woman was able to flag down Central District police officers who were patrolling the area and King was taken into custody, police said.
King was convicted last year of strong-armed robbery for an Aug. 25, 2008, attack of a couple in their 30s near a South Loop store. He and a woman, Joyce Burgess, confronted the pair and Burgess asked for a cigarette. The female victim, Jen Hall, said "go get a job," a police source said.
A fight ensued and King grabbed Hall, throwing her to the ground, beating her in the head and knocking out most of her upper teeth, according to police.
King, 47, formerly of the Pacific Garden Mission at 1458 S. Canal, and Burgess, 38, were charged with strong-armed robbery in the Aug. 25, 2008, attack, according to police, who said they stole a Blackberry. King was also charged with aggravated battery.
King, who was sentenced to three years in prison, was paroled on Tuesday, according to an Illinois Dept. of Corrections database.