Gurnee police use sting to nab ‘ripoff robber’

Gurnee police say a sting operation resulted in the arrest of a man who was accused of committing an armed robbery in late December after using a website to set up a bogus iPhone sale in a mall parking lot.

Police announced Thursday that Rodney Lattzis, 23, of Round Lake Beach, was charged with aggravated robbery. He’s been in the Lake County jail on a $150,000 bond since Tuesday.

Lattzis was given the moniker of “ripoff robber” by Gurnee police.

On Dec. 20, police said, an Elgin man reported he had made an online arrangement to meet someone he didn’t know to complete his intended purchase of the iPhones in a Gurnee Mills lot near Sears Grand. Authorities said the 36-year-old victim originally gave a different story.

Police said the victim started having second thoughts about the transaction when the men were together. Both men went into the Sears Grand, then returned to the victim’s car where he was robbed after the suspect lifted his coat to display the grip of a handgun.

An undisclosed amount of cash and home electronics purchased by the victim at the mall were taken in the robbery. Police said the offender ran east from the parking lot.

During the probe, Gurnee police Cmdr. Jay Patrick said, detectives spoke with two men who believed they were almost robbed by the same suspect through a similar iPhone ruse.

However, the men didn’t file a police report after the man fled the vehicle empty-handed.

Patrick said the sting was initiated Dec. 28 when Lattzis was contacted online by a Gurnee investigator. After several message exchanges, a meeting was set up for a purchase of the iPhones, according to police.

Lattzis was nabbed by police without incident after they spotted him at an undisclosed meeting site in Round Lake Beach. Patrick said Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group agents assisted Gurnee investigators with the operation.