Detroit man pleads guilty to Oak Brook sledgehammer robbery
A Detroit man who was shot in Oakbrook Center mall after he tried to rob a jewelry store with a sledgehammer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted armed robbery.
Levert Jones, 24, faces up to 15 years in prison when he goes before DuPage County Judge Blanche Hill Fawell for sentencing.
Jones was shot by a security guard in June after he used a 4-pound, handheld sledgehammer to smash a glass display case at the mall's C.D. Peacock store. Assistant State's Attorney Jim Scaliatine said authorities continue to search for two accomplices who fled.
Six employees and 10 customers were inside the store when the suspects entered about 3:40 p.m. Jones pulled the sledgehammer from his waistband and broke the display case. The security guard ordered Jones to lie on the floor but Jones resisted and was shot in the abdomen during a struggle, prosecutors said. The other suspects left without any robbery proceeds.
Police said they believe the men arrived at the upscale shopping center along 22nd Street hours earlier and stole a Jeep Liberty to use as a getaway vehicle.
The next morning, police found the Jeep abandoned outside an Oakbrook Terrace office building less than a half-mile away. They also obtained mall surveillance footage of the men.
Jones, who returns to court in November, underwent surgery for his gunshot wound and was hospitalized under police guard for about a week after the shooting. He has been in custody since June.
Police described the missing suspects as black men in their late 20s or early 30s. One was described as heavyset, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 230 pounds with a tattoo on the right side of his neck and wearing a black T-shirt. The other was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 160 pounds, wearing a “heavy beard” and a white T-shirt.
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