Cops Recover Getaway Vehicle From Oak Brook Jewelry Store Robbery
Updated 06/24/13 - 11:12 a.m.
OAK BROOK, Ill. (CBS) -- Police in west suburban Oak Brook said authorities have recovered the getaway vehicle used by two men who fled from a robbery attempt at a jewelry store, after a security guard shot a third robber.
Sunday afternoon, three suspects walked into the CD Peacock jewelry store at the Oakbrook Center shopping mall, and one of them smashed a display case with a sledgehammer.
A security guard drew his firearm and ordered the man to drop the sledgehammer, but the suspect refused, and the guard shot him.
The other two suspects managed to escape by stealing a black Jeep Liberty, which a mall employee had parked in a handicapped parking space outside the store.
On Monday, police said the stolen Jeep was recovered in nearby Oakbrook Terrace.
Police were reviewing surveillance video from the attempted heist, and have released one still image from a camera inside the store, although it is too dark and blurry to see the suspects' faces.
Oakbrook Center went on lockdown after the shooting, and people inside the stores were told to stay put while police cleared the scene.
"Their policy on an active shooter incident is all the stores are asked to keep the patrons inside their stores," Oak Brook Police Chief James Kruger said.
Shopper Joe Calderone said he and many others were oblivious to what was going on.
"I had no idea what had happened. I actually continued shopping afterwards, and on my way out, then, from one of the last stores, then I started seeing stores going into lockdown, that said 'Temporarily Closed,' he said. "But for the most part, people were still walking around the mall, shopping, just kind of carrying on."
The suspect who was shot in the abdomen was taken to a hospital for treatment, and was under police guard. The two other suspects remained at large Monday morning.
