One of the two men who attempted to rob the owner of a Brookfield antiques store in July has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison by a Cook County judge.
Brian A. Shive, 45, is in custody at Shawnee Correctional Center in downstate Vienna after accepting a plea deal in September, Brookfield police reported last week. He is eligible for parole in July 2022.
In taking a plea deal, Shive was able to avoid an even lengthier sentence. He had faced a maximum sentence of 15 years. Shive has an extensive criminal history with his most recent conviction being in 2012 for residential burglary in Snohomish County, Washington. At that time, he received a seven-year sentence.
Shive and an accomplice who was able to elude police and has not been arrested entered Knight’s Antiques, 9046 31st St. on the afternoon of July 25. Both men, who wore bandannas over their faces and were armed with handguns, confronted the owner of the store but fled when an employee witnessed the robbery attempt and ran out the back door to call police.
Police were able to capture Shive, of Venice, Florida, as he emerged from the backyard of a home on 30th Street just west of Sunnyside Avenue. The employee from the antiques store identified Shive as one of the men involved in the holdup.
In addition, police recovered a gray Hyundai Sonata registered in Shive’s name. The vehicle was parked in the 9000 block of 30th Street, about a block away from the antiques store.
Later that day, a resident of the 9000 block of Bartlett Avenue called police to report finding a loaded handgun, sunglasses, a blue hooded sweatshirt, a pair of gloves, a black bandana, gauze and a baseball cap in his backyard.
It was not clear whether those items were dumped there by Shive or his accomplice. That evidence was sent to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab.
Police conducted a search for the other offender in the neighborhood and the forest preserves nearby for several hours after the incident to no avail.
“We’re waiting on the return of evidence collected at the scene,” said Brookfield Police Chief Edward Petrak. “It’s our hope that positive lab results will lead to a second arrest in this case.”
