Bond denied for robbery suspect charged with shooting officer in Lombard
LOMBARD, Ill. (CBS) –No bond for a Chicago man who shot and wounded an officer after robbing a tobacco shop in Lombard, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin and Lombard Chief of Police Roy Newton announced Saturday.
Anthony Brown, 31, appeared in bond court Saturday morning where he was denied.
He is charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm at an officer, and one count of armed robbery with a firearm.
On Thursday, Lombard police officers responded to a call of an armed robbery at the Pipes and Tobacco store, located at 54 W. Roosevelt Road around 4:05 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers encountered two suspects, identified as Brown and Pierre Thompson running from the store.
It is alleged that as Thompson approached two officers in their vehicle, opened fire with a gun that had been modified with a switch to enable it to fire as a fully automatic weapon as the officers began to exit the vehicle -striking one in the leg, Berlin said.
The officer returned gunfire - striking Thompson.
Brown was taken into custody by Lombard police officers shortly after the shooting. Both the officer and Thompson were transported to a local hospital for treatment. Thompson was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
The wounded officer is currently recovering from surgery.
An investigation into the incident says both Brown and Thompson entered the business wearing masks and brandished a handgun before ordering an employee to open the cash register.
It is further alleged after taking money from the cash register, the suspects took the employee to the back of the store where the owner of the store was located.
After ordering the men to the floor, and at some point in time, the owner was hit in the head before the thieves stole the men's wallets and cellular phones in addition to $600 from a file cabinet before fleeing the store, according to Berlin.
"We as a society must never normalize or accept the type of violent behavior alleged in this case," Berlin said. "We should be outraged at allegations such as these, that two masked men robbed a business at gunpoint and then, without provocation or even a warning from officers, opened fire on the police officers. This behavior cannot stand and in DuPage County we will not sit idly by while criminals terrorize our communities. We will respond with every legal tool available to control violent crime and keep our businesses, their patrons and our communities safe. We are all very thankful that the officer involved is expected to survive his injury. He has a long road ahead of him and we wish him the best and thank him for his service. I commend the Lombard Police Department and other assisting agencies for their outstanding work in bringing a tense, rapidly evolving situation under control in extremely quick fashion."
Brown is scheduled to appear back in court on Dec. 27.
If found guilty, he faces a penalty of between 41-125 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.