Five charged in connection with 21 armed robberies
The law finally caught up with an armed robbery ring linked to 20 thefts at businesses in northern Lake County and southern Wisconsin in the last two months, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said during a news conference Friday.
Members of the group - known for wearing handkerchiefs over their faces and dark colored hooded sweatshirts during the heists - were busted after a tip linked one thief to some of the crimes, and a black BMW was identified as a getaway car, Curran said.
Arrested were Michael R. Boyle, 42, of Twin Lakes, Wis., the alleged ringleader; Randy E. O'Brien, 20, of Iron River, Mich.; Terrance C. Walker Jr., 22, of Elgin; and Sean Kettledon, 35, of Paddock Lake, Wis. All four are held in lieu of $250,000 bond.
A 16-year-old male juvenile from Silver Lake, Wis., is held by Lake County juvenile authorities, Curran said.
Other arrests are possible as the investigation continues, officials said.
The group is believed responsible for seven armed robberies in northern Lake County from April 25 in Antioch to one early Thursday at a Grass Lake Road gas station outside Antioch.
Lake Villa Police Chief Ron Roth noticed similarities between an April 29 liquor store heist in Lake Villa and thefts in Antioch and Kenosha County, Curran said. Roth called for a meeting of 15 law enforcement departments and the U.S. Marshall's Service to help coordinate the investigation.
During this time, the ring hit stores in Fox Lake, Richmond, and Antioch in Illinois, and in Lake Geneva, Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha in Wisconsin. In each, two or three males would enter the business wearing bandannas and hooded sweatshirts, display a handgun, and demand money.
"The disguises made it difficult to impossible for the victims to identify the suspects," Curran said. "In many cases, they were even unsure of the race of the individuals who had robbed them."
The guns displayed were non-firing replicas of 40-caliber and 9 mm semiautomatic handguns, Curran said. To make the weapons hard to identify, the thieves always pointed them in the face of a victim when demanding money.
No injuries were reported in any heist. The thieves carried backpacks to hold the stolen cash, Curran said, and ran to a getaway car parked a considerable distance from the businesses.
The break came when Lake County Crime Stoppers received a tip in mid-June identifying Walker as a suspect, Curran said. Officers also learned a black BMW registered to Boyle was used by the robbers.
The final arrests came just after midnight Thursday, Curran said, when police received a call of an armed robbery at the Phillips 66 at Grass Lake Road and Route 59.
It fit the pattern of previous heists, police were alerted and the black BMW was stopped in Spring Grove. Boyle and O'Brien were arrested along with the juvenile. Walker and Kettledon were picked up later Thursday.
Curran said at least $11,000 was taken by the group, but police know Boyle spent $4,000 to buy the BMW, and another $7,000 on legal expenses for his girlfriend. Police searched Boyle's residence Thursday and found an undermined amount of cash.
"I'm glad they got them," said Andy Phillips, who was held up June 16 when working as an assistant manager of Dominos Pizza in Antioch. "And, it's a little bit of a relief that it's over."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=9&type=video&item=369">Announcement of arrests </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=303085">Eight arrested for some 21 robberies in Lake County and Wisconsin <span class="date">[06/26/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>