4 males are going through federal expenses after prosecutors stated they stormed a Plainfield mobile retailer with a handgun, stole greater than $92,000 in Apple merchandise, and barricaded victims inside a restroom with a fridge. Unbeknownst to them, nonetheless, one of many iPhones they stole was really a secret monitoring machine.
At about 11:28 a.m. on September 24, three masked males in hooded sweatshirts entered a mobile retailer within the 12000 block of South Route 59, and one in all them pointed a handgun at an worker and a buyer. The robbers took valuables from the pockets of the client and employee, then pressured them right into a again room, a prison criticism stated.
At one level, one robber deliberately tripped the client, inflicting him to hit his head on a door body earlier than kicking him laborious sufficient to depart blood on his boots.
After forcing the worker to open the protected, two robbers crammed massive canvas baggage with iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
As that was taking place, the worker heard the entrance door chime and realized one in all his co-workers had arrived for his or her shift, the criticism stated. One of many robbers pressured the brand new arrival to crawl into the again room on his fingers and knees after which lie face down with the others.
Prosecutors stated the crew pressured each workers and the client right into a restroom, then barricaded the door with a fridge.
The lads fled with “roughly $92,337.62” in merchandise, principally iPhones, and piled right into a grey Chrysler Pacifica pushed by a fourth man, with one other individual ready within the again seat.
However the robbers didn’t understand one of many stolen iPhones contained a hidden monitoring machine, in line with the criticism. As they sped away, regulation enforcement started receiving real-time GPS updates, and officers discovered the Chrysler in Blue Island, the place it had crashed by way of a fence earlier than coming to a cease. The occupants of the minivan bolted, leaving sealed Apple merchandise contained in the van.
An air help unit directed officers to the fleeing males.
Inside minutes, Sidney Blackmon, Rashaad Collins, Devon Johnson, and Dwayne Parker had been in custody. The criticism stated video exhibits Blackmon tossing a .40-caliber Glock right into a yard as he ran. The gun was recovered.
Investigators later decided that Johnson had rented the Chrysler Pacifica earlier that day. Surveillance video from the rental company confirmed him carrying the identical garments because the getaway driver, in line with the criticism.
In a extra old school little bit of detective work, an FBI agent stated Collins and Parker had been linked to the theft partly as a result of they had been carrying distinctive underwear that matched what two of the masked robbers had on through the heist.
All 4 males are charged with theft affecting interstate commerce and possessing a firearm throughout a criminal offense of violence.
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