One adult and a pair of juveniles have been charged with three felonies each by North Riverside police in connection with the robbery of the White Hen Pantry at 17th Avenue and Cermak Road on May 17.
The same group has also been charged in connection with the armed robbery of a 7-Eleven store in Oak Park Monday morning, and River Forest police have charged the two juveniles in connection with the armed robbery of another White Hen at 7971 W. Lake St. on May 17.
Charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery and aggravated robbery by North Riverside police was Everette T. Silas, 20, of Bellwood. A 15-year-old Bellwood juvenile and a 16-year-old Maywood juvenile were also charged with the same three counts and are being held at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
In addition, Oak Park police charged a fourth man, Anthony Spencer, 20, of Bellwood, with aggravated armed robbery and aggravated robbery. North Riverside police did not charge Spencer.
The four, who are scheduled to appear today at a bond hearing at the Maybrook courthouse, are suspected in as many as six other armed robberies over the past month in River Forest, Forest Park and other western suburbs, three of which occurred between April 10 and May 22 in Forest Park.
The four were arrested early Monday morning in a van at Washington Boulevard and 12th Avenue in Maywood by Forest Park police backed up by officers from River Forest and Maywood.
After the previous late night robbery in Oak Park and another robbery in Glen Ellyn, the two juveniles allegedly entered the River Forest White Hen Pantry around 4:40 a.m. Monday morning. According to River Forest police, one man allegedly displayed what appeared to be a hand gun and demanded money from the clerk. After the clerk turned over the cash, the gun man struck the clerk, and the pair then fled into a waiting van occupied by two other men.
Earlier on Monday morning, just before 3 a.m., the 7-Eleven at 515 Madison in Oak Park was also robbed at gun point by two young men. In between the Oak Park and River Forest robberies, a convenience store in Glen Ellyn was also held up.
Around 3 a.m. on May 17 two men used a gun to rob the White Hen at 7860 Madison St. in Forest Park in a similar manner as the other area robberies, including battering the clerk after he turned over cash.
Around 90 minutes prior to that robbery, two men held up the White Hen at Cermak Road and 17th Avenue in North Riverside in the same manner. Two suspects entered the store, displayed a hand gun, and demanded money from the register. After the clerk complied, the gunman struck him in the head with the weapon and both men fled the sore.
According to North Riverside Police Chief Anthony Garvey, his department recovered some physical evidence in that robbery, evidence that is currently being evaluated at the state police crime lab.
Police from North Riverside, Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park worked throughout Monday and into Tuesday morning, conducting the interviews and line ups that led to the charges against the men and juveniles.
