Thanksgiving Ruined For Suburban Family After Brazen Armed Thieves Stole Car In Multi-Town Crime Spree
HOMER GLEN, Ill. (CBS) -- A brazen suburban crime spree was caught on camera this week, as armed thieves roamed from town to town stealing or trying to steal cars.
As CBS 2's Tim McNicholas reported Thursday, the thefts all happened within one hectic half hour in the south suburbs three days earlier.
When McNicholas talked with them this Thanksgiving Day, Stephanie Pearson and her daughter, Carly, were showing off little chocolate-covered strawberries that were shaped like Thanksgiving turkeys. It was a cute and heartwarming scene, but the general vibes around Thanksgiving this year for the Pearsons were the opposite of joyous.
"It is probably the worst Thanksgiving on record," said Stephanie Pearson. "I am incredibly upset that I'm not with the rest of my family."
"It's just terrible," said Carly Pearson.
The mom and daughter have a group of thieves to thank or that. With a gun drawn, the thieves shuffled into their garage and stole their Lexus Monday while the Pearsons were inside the house.
Stephanie had planned to drive that car to Virginia this week to celebrate Thanksgiving at her other daughter's new home.
"At 3:20 in the afternoon, to think that someone's going enter your garage and take your car was unbelievable," said Stephanie.
And police say Pearson's car was not the only one the group stole Monday. We gathered home security video from three suburbs to piece together a brazen, broad daylight crime spree that lasted at least a half hour.
"It's very scary, actually," said Diane Vukanic.
It was outside Vukanic's house in Orland Park where the crime spree all started. Her camera shows someone hop out of a gray Dodge Durango around 2:48 p.m.
The thieves could not open her car, so they stole a black Jeep from next door. The group went on to ditch the Jeep couple blocks away after stealing a purse from the car.
"It's actually terrifying, because when we saw the footage from the Lemont incident, we realized they had a gun," said Vukanic.
The video from Lemont that she mentioned shows someone hop out of that same Dodge Durango around 3:08 p.m. That person then runs up a driveway holding what looks like a gun.
Police say the thieves were not able to steal any cars in Lemont.
Ten minutes later, the Dodge Durango is in Homer Glen, where the group scopes out a garage before moving on. And just one minute later, the group shows up at the Pearsons' house and steals the Lexus.
"I was angry at first, like devastated," said Stephanie Pearson. "I went flying out the house down the driveway looking to see what happened."
Pearson said she had left her purse and keys in the car because she thought the garage was closed and locked.
Carly, her youngest daughter, left the door open about 15 minutes before the theft as she ran inside to change into her gym clothes.
"Didn't really think about closing it, because I knew shortly after, I was going to go to the gym and work," said Carly, "and 15 minutes is all it took."
Now, the mom and daughter will have to settle for a FaceTime with their family in Virginia.
"Thank goodness I have a friend that's a really good cook, so we'll be going there," said Stephanie.
Now, Lemont police, the Will County Sheriff's office, and Orland Park police are all looking for those thieves. Police believe the Dodge Durango that group is driving around is also stolen.
Orland Park police are also investigating whether that same group may have stolen a purse and gym bag from a parked car just Wednesday. That was near Pine Street and Carefree Avenue, and a witness said one of the thieves had a gun.