Suspected bank robbers in Lisle traced to Chicago warehouse
CHICAGO (CBS) – An armed bank robbery in DuPage County may have triggered a SWAT situation 25 miles west in a warehouse in the Hermosa neighborhood.
It all unraveled Thursday morning and now, several suspects are in police custody. All are believed to be tied to the robbery. CBS 2's Andrew Ramos spoke to witnesses who said things got chaotic leading up to those arrests.
Those suspects were tracked to the warehouse along North Kostner. It's a multi-use facility that houses a number of small businesses, including a small bar.
Witnesses said what unraveled Thursday morning was something they've never seen, or thought would happen on their block.
SWAT teams moved in. The response was massive.
The Chicago Police Department along with multiple agencies responded in full force, guns drawn, K9 units on deck, all going down Thursday morning at the Hermosa warehouse.
What possibly led police there: an armed bank robbery that happened several miles away in west suburban Lisle.
According to the FBI, that robbery happened around 9:10 a.m. at a BMO Harris Bank on Maple Avenue.
It would be less than an hour later at 9:50 a.m. that more than two dozen law enforcement vehicles arrived at the warehouse, where employees were evacuated as they searched for those suspects. A nearby high school was placed on lockdown.
"I've never seen anything like this, and I don't know what was going on if somebody was trying to get to the school," said resident Edgar Salgado.
Salgado lives down the block and received an alert from nearby North Grand High School, where his son and daughter attend, informing him they were on lockdown due to what was an active SWAT situation.
"They couldn't choose any of the houses here or anything but they went to that warehouse and we are all a close, safe neighborhood," Salgado said.
It would be about an hour after police response that several suspects were led out of the warehouse in handcuffs.
CBS 2 obtained images showing at least one of those men in police custody.
Police also impounded an unmarked gray Dodge Durango from the facility. It's unclear if the car is connected to the bank robbery that happened in Lisle.
About an hour after the police responded to the scene, neighbors said they saw as many as seven suspects placed in custody without incident.
It would be about an hour after the police response that several suspects were led out of the warehouse in handcuffs.
The case remains under active investigation and CBS 2 is still waiting to get more information from Chicago police or the FBI about the arrests and any pending charges.
