13 June 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chief Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us 708.447.2127 - Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

RIVERSIDE POLICE ARREST THREE JUVENILES FOR MULTIPLE
OFFENSES AFTER RETAIL THEFT
Riverside Police charge juveniles with retail theft, mob action, resisting arrest and all subjects are tied to car burglaries

On Friday, June 13, 2014 at 2:05 a.m., the Riverside Police Department received a 911 call from the
Amstar Service Station, 3346 South Harlem, reporting a retail theft that had just occurred. The
complainant told the 911 center that two males and one female had committed a theft and were running
eastbound on 34
th
from Harlem into Berwyn.
A Riverside officer then went to the last known area of the suspects and with the assistance of Berwyn
officers, started searching the area. A short time later, a Riverside officer spotted a subject matching the
description given by the complainant in the area of Windsor and Home. The officer ordered the individual
to stop at which time he did not and fled on foot. A foot pursuit took place and the officer ran between
driveways and back yards in the area of the 3300 block of Home and Berwyn. The officer was able to
catch up with one of the suspects, a male in the 3300 block of Clinton in the alley. The officer took his
suspect into custody after a short fight. While he was taking this suspect into custody, he observed
another suspect and located a female suspect hiding in bushes also in the 3300 block of Clinton in the
alley. This female was also taken into custody after a struggle.
Berwyn and Stickney units continued to search the area and a short time later the Stickney Police
Department was able to detain a third suspect approximately one block south of the 3300 block of Home.
This suspect was also taken into custody after a short struggle. All three suspects were taken back to
Amstar Service Station where they were identified by the clerk as being involved in the retail theft.
Additionally, Riverside Police recovered videotape from the store depicting all three suspects taking part in
the theft.
It was learned from the victim that all three of them came into the store at 2:05 a.m. One of the male
juveniles stood at the door not allowing other patrons in. The other two suspects committed a retail theft
EWS RELEASE
RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT
31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546
stealing several items including food, snacks, candy and other items for sale. Suspects then fled
eastbound from the store at which time the clerk called 911.
While in police custody, a search was conducted where police found additional items that did not belong to
the juveniles. All of the suspects had bags of loose change, prepaid debit cards, gift cards, a flashlight,
briefcase and other items that appeared to be taken from vehicles. The Berwyn Police Department was
contacted and it was found out that they had several car burglaries that had occurred earlier in the
evening at approximately 8:00 p.m. in the area of the 3300 block of Clinton. Police contacted those
victims and the victims positively identified their property.
Riverside Police charged all three juveniles with one count of retail theft, mob action and resisting arrest.
The Suspects charged included one male 16 of Berwyn, a second male 14 of Chicago and a third female
16 also from Berwyn.
After being charged and processed by the Riverside Police, the juveniles information and property was
turned over to Berwyn Police Department for follow-up investigation in reference to the car burglaries.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, It is commonplace now that offenders run and fight with
the police. As you can see in this case, when 14 and 165-year-old juveniles decide that they want to
physically fight the police, my officers are forced to take these teenagers into custody using physical force
which we try to avoid, if possible. However, it is clear that the days of offenders and suspects stopping
when police order them to do so are long gone.

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