Footprints, K9 lead to two armed robbery arrests

Footprints in the snow and a Wauconda Police K9 unit helped Fox Lake Police arrest two people for using a replica machine gun to rob a gas station, authorities said Thursday.

Rashon Jackson, 25, of the 2000 block of North Stratford Road in Round Lake Beach, is held in Lake County jail on $75,000 bail after being charged with aggravated armed robbery for the robbery of the Mobil gas station in the 500 block of Rollins Road, police said.

A 16-year-old juvenile also faces charges of aggravated armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and resisting a peace officer in the case, Fox Lake Police Lt. Mark Schindler said. The juvenile is held at the Depke Juvenile Justice Center near Vernon Hills.

Police have not released the juvenile's name due to his age, Schindler said, and the charges have to be approved by a juvenile court judge at a later date.

Schindler said Jackson entered the gas station/convenience store at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday and picked up a case of beer from a cooler in the rear of the building.

As the store clerk was talking to Jackson, the juvenile entered the store with what appeared to be a machine gun and demanded the clerk open the register, Schindler said.

The clerk told the juvenile to put down the weapon and attempted to push an in-store panic button, Schindler said. However, Jackson had moved behind the counter and tried to hit the clerk as he started to reach for the button, Schindler said.

After the button was pushed, Jackson and the juvenile left the store, Schindler said. On their way out of the building, Jackson grabbed the case of beer and the juvenile grabbed miniature bottles of alcohol that were on the counter, Schindler said.

Police arrived within minutes and observed dropped merchandise and footprints in the snow that led to a nearby residential area, Schindler said.

A K9 unit from the Wauconda Police Department was called in to help police follow tracks to the front door of an Adams Street home where Jackson and the juvenile were arrested, police said.

Police confiscated the gun used in the robbery and determined it was a replica, Schindler said.

Jackson's next court date is unknown at this time.