Woman, 77, Carjacked In Suburban Hometown, Just After Suspects Stole Halloween Masks From Walgreens Where Her Sister Was Working
HOMETOWN, Ill. (CBS) -- Two thieves copped a few Halloween masks and ran out of a Walgreens in southwest suburban Hometown this week – but not before an employee got a good look at them.
But CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Thursday night, what started started out as simple retail theft quickly grew into something far more serious. The bandits are believed to have run out of the Walgreens wearing clown masks, going just one block, and attacking a 77-year-old woman who happened to be the aforementioned Walgreens employee's sister – and stole the woman's sport-utility vehicle for no good reason.
"I try not to think about it," said Frances Nicaise, known as Ms. Frances. "I just feel uneasy – I don't know if that's the word."
It is hard for Nicaise to gather her thoughts. Someone attacked the 77-year-old as she parked her SUV outside her Hometown apartment complex Wednesday night.
"When all of sudden, I felt somebody jump on me and I started screaming. And as he grabbed me, he just threw me to the ground," Nicaise said, "he was hitting back and forth on my arm."
Nicaise found herself in the middle of a carjacking in the village of Hometown, off 88th Street and Cicero Avenue.
"I was kicking and screaming for help - realizing nobody was going to hear me," she said. "I just asked them: 'Please don't kill me! Just don't kill me! Take, take what you want!'"
But the thieves wanted nothing more than her SUV – and even after handing over the key fob, the crooks had no idea how to start the vehicle.
"He said, 'Where's your keys?" I said, 'You took them,'" Nicaise said. "He said, 'I don't have (expletive),' he said. I said, 'But you've got them – I don't know where else they could be.' And he started at me again, and then his other friend came."
The two thieves eventually figured it out, leaving Nicaise screaming on a dark sidewalk. It turned out the same pair was spotted stealing Halloween masks from the Walgreens at 87th Street and Cicero Avenue minutes before.
"They were wearing the masks, but they had stolen them from the Halloween aisle," said Nicaise's sister, Carol Nicaise.
Carol Nicaise works at the Walgreens. Minutes after witnessing the theft, she discovered the pair targeted her sister.
"I screamed," Carol Nicaise said. "I was right at the register. I said: 'I got to go. I got to go. My sister's been attacked.' And I just walked right out of the store."
As Hometown police canvassed the neighborhood for more evidence late Thursday, Ms. Frances wants her attackers caught – yet she wants the crooks to know something else.
"The one thing is that he knows that I've forgiven him and that I'm not going to hold it against him," she said.
Frances Nicaise had a sore back, but that was about it – no major injuries from the attack.
Hometown police late Thursday were reviewing surveillance video from the Walgreens. They were also seen canvassing the neighborhood looking for additional video to help catch the assailants.