Teenage Stickup Crew Steals 2 Pairs of Overpriced Sneakers, Gets Caught After Somebody Shoots Up Their Place: Cops

JOLIET, IL — A teenage stickup crew stole two pairs of overpriced sneakers but got caught by the cops after their home was shot up, police said.

The thieving teens — a 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds — brokered a deal on Facebook to buy two pairs of Air Jordans at a price of $175 apiece, police said.

The three set up a meeting with a 22-year-old man, a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old at an address on Pine Street, police said, and when the two groups got together about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the crooks handed over a roll of bills for the sneakers. Only instead of $350, the roll was merely 10 singles, according to police.

When the sneaker sellers asked where the rest of the money was, the 16-year-old snatched a pair of the Jordans, one of the 17-year-olds pulled a gun, and the other 17-year-old grabbed the other pair of shoes and punched the 15-year-old in the face, police said. The three reportedly then ran away, jumping fences and cutting through yards as they made their escape.

The sneaker sellers called the cops, police said, and while officers were talking to them, a call came in of a shooting on nearby Spring Street. Officers responding to that call reportedly learned a single bullet passed through a wall and entered a house. They also found the three teens who stole the Air Jordans there, as well as the stolen sneakers and a flare gun that resembled a 9 mm pistol, according to police.

The three teens, who all live in the Spring Street house, were identified by their victims, police said. They were taken to River Valley Juvenile Detention Center.

The gunman who shot at the Spring Street house has yet to be apprehended or identified.

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