Hotdogs and Handguns: Weird Crimes

Chase Scene

Dec. 15: A Sunday night armed robbery in a restaurant parking lot turned into a car chase—and a subsequent car crash—when the victims took off after the alleged offender, according to police.

Tinley Park police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding three brothers from Tinley Park and Oak Lawn who were robbed Sunday when a man brandishing a "silver automatic handgun" accosted them in the parking lot of Portillo's Hot Dogs on Harlem Avenue, said Chief Steve Neubauer. The brothers were talking to one another in the lot when a man came up to them and demanded their money and cell phones, Neubauer added.

After the brothers handed over their valuables, the offender sped away in a brown Lincoln driven by another man, Neubauer said.

But the drama didn't end there. The brothers decided to pursue the Lincoln, eventually striking that car, Neubauer said. Both vehicles went over the median, and the brothers' car came to a rest on the curb at 167th Street and Harlem Avenue. The Lincoln, however, drove away.

No one was injured during the robbery or in the car crash, Neubauer said.

Police have descriptions of the two individuals involved with the robbery:

• Alleged armed robber: A black man, 30 to 35 years old, about 250 pounds, wearing a gray hoodie.

Read more on Tinley Park Patch

“Something” Consumed

Dec. 12: A Stickney man allegedly "consumed" something in the New Lenox Walmart without paying for it.

Michael Bean, 25, was arrested shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the East Lincoln Highway megastore.

An officer sent to the Walmart to investigate a complaint of thievery was told "Bean removed merchandise from (a) shelf and consumed the product in the store and then placed the product back on the shelf," police said.

The police did not specify what it was Bean allegedly consumed.

Bean was released after posting bond.

Read more on New Lenox Patch

Unlucky Diner Pickpocketed at Portillo's on Friday the 13th

Dec. 13: A crook plucked a wallet from an unwitting Portillo's diner's purse and then used a stolen credit card to rack up purchases at Target and Walmart, the New Lenox police said.

The thief struck shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Friday the 13th.

An officer sent to Portillo's to investigate the crime was told by the victimized woman that an "unknown person took her wallet from her purse and then made purchases at Target and Wal-Mart using her credit card," police said.

The case was sent to the department's investigations division for review.

Read more on New Lenox Patch

Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

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