Man Pretends To Be Cop, Robs Store
UPDATED 11/26/10 12:31 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) - A West Side man is facing felony charges for pretending to be a police officer and robbing a store.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Catherine Catalane reports, Marcell L. Kellum, 37, allegedly walked into a small retail store in the 5500 block of West Harrison Street around 10:25 a.m. Wednesday, and told the people behind the counter he was a police officer.
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He then handcuffed one of the males and robbed him of cash and personal items, police said.
Afterward, police said, Kellum allegedly ordered the other man to open the store's cash register and grabbed an undisclosed amount of money and left the store, police said.
The store staff called police, and Austin District officers responding to the store saw Kellum walking on the street and stopped him. The males at the store positively identified Kellum, and he was later charged, police said.
Kellum, of the 700 block of North Laramie Avenue, is now charged with two felony counts of aggravated robbery and one felony count of aggravated false impersonation of a police officer, according to a police News Affairs release. He was also wanted on a warrant.
A gun and the stolen proceeds were recovered, police said.
Bond was set at $150,000 on Thanksgiving Day. He is next set to appear in court on Tuesday of next week.
WBBM Newsradio 780's Catherine Catalane and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
