Riverside police say they have arrested one of the men suspected of breaking into a Harlem Avenue gas station minimart in November 2019 and attempting to steal an ATM from the business.
According to police, Demuiro D. Williams, 28, of Chicago, had been identified as a suspect a year ago after Illinois State Police were able to match his DNA to blood evidence recovered from the scene.
Chicago police took Williams into custody on Riverside’s warrant for his arrest during a traffic stop in the 500 block of North Laramie Avenue on March 3.
“The use of technology combined with effective investigative tools and evidence collection helped to identify Mr. Williams as the suspect in this burglary,” said Police Chief Thomas Weitzel in a press release. “The Illinois State Police Crime Lab and U.S. Department of Justice DNA database were instrumental in bringing closure to this case.”
Williams reportedly has an extensive criminal history, including arrests for trespass to property and vehicle theft as well as weapons and drug offenses. Police say he is a self-admitted and documented street gang member.
He has been charged with burglary for the minimart break in that occurred during the early morning hours of Nov. 28, 2019 at the Citgo gas station at 539 Longcommon Road, which is on the southwest corner of Longcommon and Harlem.
The incident was the third time that particular ATM had been targeted. Crews also had forced their way into the minimart on Nov. 2 and Nov. 13 and attempted to remove the ATM, which was bolted to the floor.
On Nov. 28 at about 4:50 a.m., just 10 minutes before the business was scheduled to open for the day, two men smashed the glass front door of the minimart and then pried off the top of the ATM, taking it and fleeing in a blue Dodge Durango with no license plates.
Police later reported finding the top of the ATM on the public parkway in the 100 block of Herrick Road. There was no money in the ATM at the time of the Nov. 28 burglary. The ATM had not even been operation since the first burglary in early November, and the offenders ignored a “No ATM service please” sign taped to door of the minimart.
The Riverside burglary was just one in a series of ATM burglaries and attempted burglaries in 2019 in Chicago and the west suburbs.
Weitzel said the search for the second person who broke into the Citgo minimart on Nov. 28, 2019 continues. Detectives are also attempting to link Williams to the two prior attempts to steal the Citgo ATM that month.
