Forest Park police have thus far come up empty handed in their search for a man who they believe robbed several local drug stores and convenience stores in recent months. The most recent incident, a May 6 robbery of the Walgreens at Harlem and Roosevelt streets, is giving authorities reason to suspect the man is again making the rounds. This is the second time that store has been robbed, presumably by the same suspect, police said.
“We’re kind of at a dead end right now,” Detective Scott Frey said.
Police believe the man robbed the Walgreens for the first time on April 22.
Frey described the suspect’s method as “till tapping.” He confronts a cashier and simply reaches over the counter and grabs the money out of the register. Frey said the suspect has not displayed a weapon or even implied that he had a weapon in his robberies in Forest Park. However, authorities in neighboring communities believe the same man is responsible for several heists in which a weapon was either displayed or implied.
Just days before the April 22 incident in Forest Park, police in Berwyn responded to a robbery in which the suspect may have flashed a silver revolver. In Oak Park, investigators suspect the same individual has used a weapon in at least one incident and implied as much in others.
The suspect often makes a small purchase before grabbing the money in the cash register and fleeing on foot.
The latest robbery occurred at 9:45 p.m. on Sunday May 6, Frey said. The suspect made off with roughly $160.
Surveillance cameras have captured some clear pictures of the individual, who police believe is a black man in his late 20’s or early 30’s and is about 5-feet 9-inches tall and weighs 170 pounds.
They also believe the suspect robbed White Hen stores in Forest Park on Oct. 30 and Nov. 24 of last year.
In Oak Park, police suspect the same unidentified man of committing robberies at a White Hen on Harlem Avenue on Aug. 29, 2006, at a CVS pharmacy along Roosevelt Road on Nov. 27, 2006, and again on April 5 of this year.
Frey said patrol officers have viewed pictures of the suspect and are on the lookout for him. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the police department’s tip line at (708)366-2323 ext. 105.
