Crime & Safety
Drone, Dog Help Capture Suspects In Robbery Of Wilmette Jewel-Osco, Police Say
Wilmette police said two grocery store employees were injured during a New Year's Eve incident that led to a chase across the North Shore.
WILMETTE, IL — Two Chicago men face felony charges after police were alerted to shoplifters at a Wilmette grocery store on New Year's Eve, authorities said, leading to a chase involving officers from five departments, a dog and a drone.
Officers were dispatched shortly before 1 p.m. to the Jewel-Osco at 411 Green Bay Road, where two thieves had reportedly stolen hundreds of dollars worth of liquor. One of the shoplifters struck and injured two store employees, according to police.
Police said they tried to pull over the suspected shoplifters' car in the 16th Street alley between Wilmette and Central avenues, less than a mile west of the Jewel, but the driver refused to stop.
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The fleeing car managed to make it about 2.5 miles northwest before Wilmette police tracked it down again, according to police. Officers spotted four people get out of the parked car just west of the intersection of Meadowview and Hibbard roads in Northfield.
Police said two people near the vehicle were arrested right away, but two other occupants took off running.
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Wilmette police eventually managed to catch the two fleeing suspects with the help of officers from Glencoe, Kenilworth, Northfield and Winnetka, as well as a dog from the Northbrook Police Department and an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Two of the four people detained were released without charges. Prosecutors approved felony charges against two men, including the accused getaway driver.
Tyshon McClure, 24, of the 5800 block of West Division Street, was charged with robbery, felony retail theft and aggravated fleeing, as well as the misdemeanor offenses of resisting or obstructing a peace officer and driving with a suspended license.
Burt Robinson, 28, of the 1000 block of North Lamon Avenue, was charged with robbery, felony retail theft and three counts of aggravated battery, as well resisting arrest and a warrant related to a prior case.
Police said Robinson of the two men was also charged over a retail theft in Westchester, a robbery in Hillside and a Dec. 26 theft from the same Jewel-Osco in Wilmette.
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