MARION COUNTY — Bail has been set at $15,000 for an 18-year-old Central City man formally charged today in Marion County Court with Class 2 felony robbery for the alleged beating and robbery of a Centralia man Friday.

Caidin Cook was arrested after a bloody 41-year-old Douglas Griggs reportedly came out of a home in the 1100 block of Case Street early Friday morning as police questioned a woman about an unwanted subject.

Griggs reportedly told police he was beaten and robbed by a group of men who jumped out of three cars and stopped him at 10th and Cherry streets in Centralia.

He told police the men took a gold watch and necklace, as well as $300 cash and his identification.

Griggs told police he’d encountered one of the men earlier as he was walking near Calumet and Locust, and that the man used a racial slur, and before getting into a car with two other men and leaving the area, the man threatened to beat him.

Griggs identified Cook as the only one of the men in the group that he knew, and police arrested Cook Saturday night.

He denied being involved in the incident and told officers he had spent Thanksgiving at his grandmother’s and then stayed the night at his mother’s home.

However, according to police, after Cook was taken in for questioning, his mother went to the police department to ask why her son had been arrested, and reportedly asked officers about the other 10 involved.

Cook is next due in court January 10, for a first appearance with his court appointed attorney.