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Armed Robbers Chased Through West Suburbs

Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 | Updated 1:44 PM CST

Police chased two armed robbery suspects through three towns in the western suburbs Friday.

Two men suspected of an armed robbery at a Naperville liquor store Friday night were apprehended after the Jeep they were in overturned following a police chase through the western suburbs.

About 9:05 p.m. Friday, an armed robbery was reported in progress at the Extra Value Liquor Store, 1550 N. Rt. 59 in Naperville, according to a release from Naperville police.

Responding officers were told that two men had robbed the store employee at gunpoint and fled the parking lot in a Jeep Cherokee last seen heading northbound on Route 59. Detectives from the Naperville Police Department’s Special Operations Section were monitoring traffic on eastbound I-88 at Naperville Road when they observed a Jeep Cherokee matching the description of the robbery suspects' Jeep heading eastbound. The detectives followed the Jeep eastbound on I-88 to southbound I-355 and made a traffic stop on the vehicle on I-355 just south of Maple Avenue.

During their initial conversations with the driver and passenger the Jeep sped off southbound, the release said. Naperville Police detectives then pursued the Jeep, which continued through the towns of Woodridge and Downers Grove before the chase was terminated for safety reasons.

Shortly thereafter, the Jeep was located in a yard at the northwest corner of Maple Avenue and Pershing in Downers Grove after it failed to negotiate a turn onto westbound Maple Avenue and overturned. The two men fled on foot, so a perimeter was established with the assistance of Woodridge police, Downers Grove police, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Department, the Lombard police department's K-9, and the Oak Brook police department's K-9. During a subsequent search of the area both suspects were located and taken into custody without incident.

Further investigation yielded a loaded handgun at the scene of the original traffic stop on I-355. There were no injuries reported during this incident and the two men, 48-year-old Gregory King of Bellwood, who was the driver of the Jeep, and 41-year-old Buddy Stone of Chicago, were charged with a Class X Felony for armed robbery, along with numerous traffic violations.