Hanover Park police honored for robbery response

Hanover Park police officers recently were honored for their quick response in March to a Walgreens store where a man had threatened to shoot employees and stole prescription painkillers.

Officers called to the Barrington Road store arrived in less than a minute and confronted the suspect as he was leaving the building. After a brief struggle, officers arrested the Streamwood man, who was found with 17 prescription bottles of OxyContin, masking tape and a knife that was not used in the robbery, police said.

"When I heard we met the offender at the front door, I was shocked," Mayor Rodney Craig said at a recent village board meeting saluting Steven Stotz, Theresa Tuntland and a third officer who was unable to attend the gathering. "It doesn't get any better than that."

Jeffrey Fritsch, 56, is charged with aggravated robbery, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He jumped the pharmacy counter and demanded the employee hand over the prescriptions during the March robbery, police said.

The officers also were awarded a department tradition, commendation coins, presented by Police Chief David Webb.