ELMHURST, Ill. (STMW) – Police captured two Chicago men who dressed as police officers to rob a west suburban Elmhurst store of $39,000 worth of cigarettes last Friday.

Claiborne Robertson and Charles Tyrone Watkins entered the Little Shopper store at 697 N. York Rd. in Elmhurst about 9:40 a.m. May 11 dressed as police officers and claimed to be inspectors needing to check cigarette stamps, according to an Elmhurst police release.

The men led a store employee to a storage room, where they handcuffed him and fled with 780 cartons of cigarettes worth about $39,000, the release said.

Responding officers found the 1997 Maroon Chevrolet Tahoe as it was fleeing and apprehended Robertson and Watkins after a short chase, police said.

Robertson, 42, of the 4200 block of West Crystal Street, and Watkins, 41, of the 4200 block of West Iowa Street, were each charged with one count of armed robbery with a firearm, authorities said.

Both men are being held on $100,000 bond and will be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections without bond when released from DuPage County Jail, according to the DuPage County Sheriff’s office’s website.

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