Waukegan hotel robbed at knifepoint may be related to 3 other cases

Waukegan police are searching for a suspect who held up a local hotel, the fourth such hotel robbery in the past several weeks.

According to Cmdr. Wayne Walles of the Waukegan Police Department, a white male with a thick goatee and black ski mask entered the Holiday Inn in the 600 block Lakehurst Road at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday brandishing a butcher knife and demanded money.

After receiving the undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect fled in an unknown direction in a black Chevrolet Cavalier.

Walles said no one was injured during the heist.

The suspect is described as 5-feet 9-inches tall, weighing 200 pounds and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, green pants and white shoes.

Walles said police are trying to determine if this heist is linked to three other heists that occurred in Gurnee and Waukegan in recent weeks.

Gurnee police said someone walked into a County Inn and Suites at 5420 Grand Ave. on Jan. 25, wearing a ski mask and brandishing a weapon.

Later that evening, Waukegan police say the same person walked into the Hawthorne Suites at Midlane and Yorkhouse and did the same thing. A third robbery took place at the Quality Inn in Waukegan at 6:50 p.m. Feb. 1.

In each robbery, the suspect is described as being a white male, about 5-feet 9-inches tall, weighing between 200 and 225 pounds, with a medium to stocky build, pale blue eyes and wearing a black ski mask.

Anyone with information about any of the robberies is asked to contact Lake County Crime Stoppers at (847) 662-2222, or Waukegan police at (847) 360-9000.