Crime & Safety
Chicago Man Charged in Robbery of Video Game Store
The Game Stop clerk was able to free himself from restraints and call police, according to reports. Burbank cops said they later found the robber walking around in the street a few blocks away from the store.
A man that police said held up a game store and then tied up the clerk in a back room has been charged on multiple counts of kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and attempted armed robbery.
Police said Ulis M. Booker, of Chicago, walked into Game Stop at 8767 S. Ridgeland Ave. around 10:50 a.m. Monday and pointed a gun at a clerk.
Police said Booker forced the clerk into a back room, where he began to tie him up. Booker had not finished tying up the clerk when an employee from a neighboring business walked into the store and interrupted the robbery, according to a police press release.
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The clerk was able to break free of the restraints and lock himself in the bathroom, where he called 911, according to reports. Not knowing if the person who walked into the store was with the accused robber, the clerk remained locked in the bathroom until officers arrived, police said.
“[Booker] decided to flee the store before finishing the robbery,”
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Police said Booker was seen on security video fleeing the store and shedding his clothing in a Dumpster behind the store. Within minutes of leaving the store, Booker was stopped by a Burbank police officer near 87th Street and Merrimac, a few blocks east of Game Stop.
Kaufmann said Booker was on foot when police found him.
“We broadcast on the Burbank [police] ban,” Kaufmann said. “The Burbank officer happened to be around the corner on a different call. He saw [Booker] walking around on the street and decided to go talk to him.”
Both the clerk and witness positively identified Booker as the man who tried to rob the store, police said. Neither the clerk nor witness was injured. Police also found the .25-caliber handgun near a bush in the 8700 block of Mobile Avenue. Booker was arrested one street west of where the gun was found.
“It all happened within a few short minutes,” Kaufmann said. “The key was the employee from the other business coming into the store.”
Bail was set at $150,000 for Booker during a bond hearing Tuesday at the Bridgeview Court House.
Booker has a 2007 conviction for resisting a peace officer.
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