Cops: Robbery suspect captured 9 minutes after gas station stickup

McHenry County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 20-year-old man for armed robbery Wednesday afternoon less than 10 minutes after authorities say he walked into a McHenry-area gas station armed with a knife and demanded cash from its clerk.

Jeremy J. Ritzert, of Richmond, faces charges of armed robbery and theft over $300 for the holdup of the Mobil gas station on Route 31 and Hi Point Road.

McHenry County Undersheriff Gene Lowery said Ritzert walked into the station about 12:42 p.m. wearing a dark-colored ski mask and armed with an 8-inch knife. He demanded money from the clerk, received a little more than $500 cash and then sped off in a black Honda Accord.

A sheriff's deputy spotted such a vehicle a short time later near Route 31 and Route 176 and attempted to make a traffic stop. After a short pursuit, the driver pulled over along an on-ramp at the intersection of Route 31 and Route 14 and was arrested without incident, just nine minutes after the robbery.

The knife, ski mask and stolen cash were recovered from the vehicle, Lowery said.

He credited the fast actions of the gas station clerk and patrol deputies for the quick arrest.

"The witness got on the phone right away, gave a good description to our dispatch center which facilitated a near-perfect police response," Lowery said. "I'm really proud of the way our deputies responded to it."

Ritzert will be held in the McHenry County jail overnight and appear in bond court Thursday morning. The armed robbery charge is a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison.