Wood Dale, Elmhurst robberies related, cops say

Wood Dale and Elmhurst police are working together to search for two suspects they say committed armed robberies in both towns just before 11 p.m. Tuesday.

It was the second armed robbery in as many days in Wood Dale.

Two men wearing hoodies approached a pedestrian on Irving Park Road in Wood Dale around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, one brandishing a chrome handgun and the other carrying a knife, Deputy Chief Greg Vesta said.

The robbers took some of the victim's personal belongings but did not find any money, Vesta said. No one was injured.

About 20 minutes later, a similar crime occurred in Elmhurst, Vesta said. Elmhurst police said a victim was robbed in a parking lot on the 800 block of North York Road. There were no injuries and this time the suspects got away with an unknown amount of cash from the victim.

Police from both towns said the suspects were traveling in a mid-1990s Mercury Grand Marquis or a Ford Crown Victoria with black rims.

Vesta said police believe the same men might have committed both crimes, although Elmhurst officials would not comment.

Wood Dale's robbery comes just one day after two men robbed a Payday Loan Store in the 200 block of E. Irving Park Road about 5:45 p.m. Monday. The suspects entered the store, pointed a semiautomatic handgun at the teller, and left with an unknown amount of cash, Vesta said.

He said police do not believe that robbery is related to Tuesday's crimes.

“We're typically a quiet community and for something like this to happen in two days is extremely rare,” Vesta said.

The suspects' descriptions are also different between the Monday and Tuesday robberies. Police describe the Payday Loan suspects both as white males, dressed in all black clothing and wearing black ski masks.

Police said the first was between 6 feet and 6 feet, 3 inches tall. The second was shorter.

Tuesday's suspects from the Elmhurst and Wood Dale robberies are both Hispanic males, Vesta said.

While police do not have a detailed description of both men, they said one is between 25 and 35 years old, and between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has a thin sideburns, mustache and beard combination and was wearing a black jacket with a gray hoodie.

Anyone with information on any of the three crimes is urged to contact police at (630) 766-2060.