Crime & Safety

Man Reportedly Sends Cops on Chase After Using Stolen Credit Card

Officers embarked on a foot and vehicle chase to catch a man who reportedly tried using a stolen credit card to buy electronics at Target. The man got in multiple car accidents in Tinley while trying to evade police, cops said.

After a multiple police chases, including one that led an officer to draw his weapon, authorities arrested a Chicago Heights man last week who reportedly tried buying two iPads using a stolen credit card.

Cops caught up with Cornelius E. Gilbert, 31, of the 200 block of Leonard Street in Chicago Heights around 4:20 p.m. near the intersection of Ridgeland Avenue and Flossmoor Road in .

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They said that about one hour before that, they were called to Super Target, 7300 W. 191st St., for a report that Gilbert was trying to buy two iPads valued at a total of $1,776.18 using a stolen credit card. He used the same card at the store to buy an iPad two days prior, the report said.

However on Wednesday, the card was declined. A store employee who noticed there was a woman's name on the card became suspicious, the report said. She tried stalling Gilbert during the purchase to wait for an officer to arrive. She told that Gilbert was acting very nervous. By the time he was ready to leave the store, the cops were on scene. Gilbert was walking out when an officer began following him, according to the report. 

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"The subject started to run through the store and ran into a back room," the report said. "The subject ran out of a rear door to the (back) of the store where there are no cameras. The complainant soon located the subject on camera, running from the east side of the building toward the Target parking lot."

Gilbert then got into a red Scion and drove toward the east entrance to , police said. One officer was on foot near the east mall exit when Gilbert was trying to leave, the report said.

"I observed the maroon Scion pulling out of the Taco Bell parking lot," the report said. "The Scion drove toward me as I was standing in the left lane of the east mall exit. I drew my duty weapon and the vehicle stopped. … I yelled to (Gilbert) to put the vehicle in park and exit … (He) pulled around me to the right and headed toward 191st Street."

Police said Gilbert got into two crashes while trying to leave the area—one near 191st Street and Harlem Avenue and a one on eastbound Interstate 80. Near the latter site, he reportedly got out of the vehicle and fled southbound.

An officer spotted Gilbert running in a wooded area near Flossmoor Road and Ridgeland Avenue in , where he was arrested, police said.

He was charged with burglary, unlawful use of a credit card, reckless driving and driving with a suspended driver's license.

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