Cell Phone Store Robbers Were ‘Calm,' Cops Say

An Oak Lawn police report reveals new details of Tuesday’s armed robbery of a cell phone store by two men who calmly and casually went about brandishing handguns, terrorizing employees and helping themselves to cash from a cabinet.

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At 6:44 p.m. Oct. 16, a call came in of an armed robbery just occurred at the T-Mobile store at 10312 S. Cicero Ave. The caller stated that the robbers were two male blacks; one had on a brown jacket, and the other wore a multi-colored hat, the report said.

When police arrived at the store, employees were unable to provide much more information other than what had been given over the phone, except that both robbers left through the front door in an unknown direction. Also, one of the robbers brandished a silver handgun.

There was also a witness, although it was not clear from the report if he had been inside the store during the robbery. Police said the witness was about ten feet from the business’s front door and saw both men leave northbound along the storefront, and westbound through the parking lot, leading out to LaCrosse Avenue.

Officers immediately called for a police K9 from the Alsip Police Department and a search was conducted. Almost immediately, the dog lost the scent at 103rd Street and Lacross, leading police to believe that the robbers may have fled in a waiting car.

Inside the store, police were able to view security video. Two men were seen entering the store. One of them wore a New York Yankees hat.

Police said the robbers followed the employees into a back office, where they appeared to be rifling through a cabinet of money.

The guy wearing the Yankees hat brandished a silver-chrome handgun; the man in the multi-colored hat pointed a black revolver. The first robber stuffed a plastic bank bag down his pants; his accomplice grabbed an unknown amount of cash.

An earlier press release issued by Oak Lawn police said that employees were forced to lie on the floor. After helping themselves to the contents of the cabinet, the robbers exited the office and walked calmly on to the sales floor, checking the cash registers before leaving the store.

Later Tuesday evening, an Evergreen Park police detective stopped a car with three subjects at 103rd Street and Oakley Avenue, fitting the description Oak Lawn police had been putting out through flash broadcasts as information was being gathered.

The store employees and witness were brought to where the men were being held, but were unable to make identifications.

The first robbery suspect is described as 35 years old, six-foot-one, and wearing a multi-colored baseball cap and brown jacket.

The second robbery suspect is also around 35, six-foot-two, and wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, dark jacket, orange shirt, black jeans, and a white gym shoes with a dark stripe.

If anyone witnessed this crime or has information, please call the Oak Lawn police at 708-422-8292.

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