Suspect Charged With String Of North Suburban Robberies
(STMW) -- A man arrested outside a Des Plaines gas station with a BB gun in his pocket has been charged with robbing six north suburban gas stations and convenience stores over the past several months.
Officers were called to the Mobil gas station at 2000 S. Mannheim Road on Tuesday after the clerk saw someone he thought was responsible for an armed robbery there in October, according to a statement from Des Plaines police.
When responding patrol officers arrived, they saw a man standing in the parking lot of the BP Amoco gas station at 1990 S. Mannheim, police said.
When the man saw a patrol officer approaching on Mannheim, he began running westbound on Howard Street for about half a block before he was caught by another officer, police said.
When officers searched 26-year-old Martell J. Flippins, they found a replica BB pistol in his pocket, police said. After further investigation, Flippins told police he had gone to the Mobil gas station with the intention of robbing it.
Police also determined that he was responsible for robbing two other Des Plaines businesses — the Pantry Plus at 699 S. Wolf Road on Oct. 21 and the 7-Eleven at 2579 Ballard Road on Nov. 7.
He also robbed Mobil gas stations in Arlington Heights and Glenview on Oct. 22, a 7-Eleven in Niles on Nov. 7 and another Arlington Heights Mobil on Dec. 26, police said.
Flippins, of the 2200 block of Nichols Road in Arlington Heights, is charged with five felony counts of aggravated robbery, police said.
His bond was set at $150,000, according to the Cook County sheriff's office. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 5.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)