Police make arrests in armed robberies at casino, grocery store
Arrests have been made following robberies at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines and a grocery store in Park Ridge that could be related, police said Tuesday.
"Persons of interest in this incident have been identified," Des Plaines police said in a news release.
No charges had been filed as of late Tuesday afternoon, but Chicago police had the suspects in custody, Des Plaines police Cmdr. Matt Bowler said.
The robbery at Rivers occurred in a parking lot about 9:45 p.m. Sunday. Four men got out of a white Jeep Compass with Illinois license plates and opened the doors of an occupied silver Honda, police said.
Two of the robbers were armed with handguns and threatened the two Chicago men inside the Honda before taking money and a cellphone.
The robbers ran back to the white Jeep and drove off, police said.
The thieves may have committed another robbery about 10 minutes later in the parking lot at Mariano's, 1900 S. Cumberland Ave.
In that stickup, two people walking to their car from the store were robbed by three men who'd gotten out of a white-and-black Jeep Compass, police said.
One of the thieves was armed with a gun; they took wallets and cellphones before leaving in the Jeep, police said.
A fourth person may have remained in the Jeep during the robbery, police said.
One of the victims gave police the Jeep's license plate number.
The Jeep suspected of being used in the robberies was stopped by Chicago police and Illinois State Police a short time later in Chicago, and the occupants were arrested, authorities said.
Similar robberies occurred at Rivers and the same Mariano's on March 10.
That night, four people were robbed in Rivers' parking lots in three confrontations, police said. And like Sunday, the robbery at Mariano's occurred afterward.
All the robberies remain under investigation, Des Plaines and Park Ridge police said.
In a prepared statement, Rivers Casino said the safety and security of its guests and employees "is the top priority."
"Rivers has invested in key technologies on the property, including license plate readers, enhanced parking lot lighting and a robust camera surveillance system," the statement reads.
Those security measures aided police investigating the recent robberies, the statement continued.