Suspects charged after Gurnee robbery, standoff

Three men have been charged in connection to an armed robbery which occurred Friday night in Gurnee and led to a multi-hour standoff with police less than a block from the Gurnee police station.

Before the standoff, the three suspects approached two 18-year-old men who were outside smoking in a parking lot and asked if they wanted to buy marijuana, according to police. The 18-year-olds declined and, while they were walking away, the three suspects surrounded them and one of the three displayed a black semiautomatic handgun, police said. The other two suspects struck the victims and checked their pockets while in the 200 block of Minthaven Lane, according to police. The victims were able to free themselves and ran. The suspects also ran.

Police responded to the call at 11:13 p.m. and while searching the area for the suspects, an officer spotted two people matching their descriptions in the 100 block of Minthaven Lane shortly after 1 a.m., police said.

When the officer approachedm one of the suspects went inside the apartment and slammed the door when and the other was taken into custody.

Police set up a perimeter and tried to contact the three, possibly armed, suspects inside and after unsuccessful attempts to reach the suspects, the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System emergency services team was called to the scene at 1:47 a.m.

Residents in the area received automated calls informing them of a police emergency and instructing them to stay inside and away from windows.

One suspect surrendered to officers, but police were forced to fire tear gas into the apartment as the other two refused to come out.

The other two suspects left the apartment shortly after the tear gas was used, and the situation was cleared at 6:30 a.m., according to police.

Kaveal Butler, 22, of the 6700 block of Derby Drive in Gurnee, Terrence Nelson, 22, of the 100 block of N. Newbridge Lane in Round Lake and Dijon Collins, 16, of the 2500 block of Village Park in Waukegan were all charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.

A fourth suspect was taken into custody, but was released without charges.

A Lake County judge set Butler's bail at $200,000, Nelson's bail at $250,000 and Collins' bail at $150,000.