Jewelry store robbers still on the loose after chase

Two armed robbery suspects remained at large Tuesday after evading several police departments in a car chase a day earlier and disappearing into the Wood Dale Grove Forest Preserve.

The chase happened after a Monday afternoon robbery at Salgados Jewelry Shop in Stone Park. The store is located across the street from the police department and owned by a police officer's family.

Four robbers entered the store and pistol-whipped a female employee. They then swiped two boxes of jewelry and kicked out the glass doors of the shop, which had automatically locked.

The female employee was treated at the scene.

A bulletin went out, and Melrose Park officers soon located suspects speeding in Oak Meadows Drive in a Jeep Cherokee. The suspects then headed north on Wood Dale Road, firing shots at the pursuing officers.

The Jeep lost control, crashed into a tree at the edge of the forest preserve and burst into flames.

"The site, even now, is kind of shocking to look at," DuPage County Forest Preserve District Police Chief Tom Wakolbinger said Tuesday. "You can tell there was a huge fire."

The four suspects fled from the vehicle. Police apprehended a unnamed man and woman, while two other men escaped into the woods.

Both of the arrested suspects are 17-year-old Chicago residents, police said.

Stone Park Detective Christopher Pavini said police are withholding the identities of the suspects until they all are apprehended.

A multi-agency task force brought five search dogs and a helicopter with infrared sensors to locate the suspects.

"That area is just wild," Wakolbinger said. "It was a mess. The tree canopy was so dense that the infrared was not very effective."

Police searched the woods for hours but could not locate the suspects.

"We're fairly certain they're not in there," Wakolbinger said.

Police did recover some of the jewelry and a BB gun thrown from the getaway vehicle. Authorities say they believe at least one of the missing suspects is armed.