Roosevelt Gold Exchange in Cicero was robbed of about $55,000 in jewelry on Aug. 6, 2012. The owner’s French Mastiff chased off the robbers when they tried to steal the store’s surveillance tapes, which led to the arrest of at least one suspect so far. (Credit: CBS)
Reporting Steve Miller
CICERO (CBS) – One of the suspects who broke into a gold exchange store in Cicero and stole $55,000 in jewelry has been arrested, thanks to security video of the man wearing an easily recognizable shirt.
Cicero officials said surveillance video from the Aug. 6 robbery at the Roosevelt Gold Exchange, at 1203 S. Cicero Av., showed one of the five men involved in the heist wearing a striped shirt that was a dead giveaway.
Town spokesman Ray Hanania said 18-year-old Elijah Robinson was arrested and charged in connection with the robbery, after a Chicago police officer spotted Robinson wearing the same shirt, after security video of the robbery had been posted on YouTube.
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“Apparently, when the police arrested him, he was wearing a gray striped shirt,” Hanania said. “In fact, when they got a tip from Chicago police officers who called the Cicero Police to say that they knew one of the suspects in the video, they identified Robinson and the shirt.”
Hanania said Cicero Police also have identified a 17-year-old Chicago boy they’re looking for. Police are searching for as many as three other people.
The robbers made off with $55,000 of jewelry on Aug. 6. Surveillance video of the robbery shows a white minivan parking in a lot next door.
Three suspects stood at the window, distracting the clerk, while a fourth used a crowbar to open the office door, and a fifth waited in the van outside.
The clerk was tied up and then hit with the crowbar. One of the suspects filled a bag with jewelry. The robbers covered the clerk’s head with a pillowcase, wrapped with a phone cord.
The suspects are later seen on tape leaving the store, after being inside for 11 minutes, because they came across store owner Louie Rainone’s 110-pound French Mastiff, Max, who was in the back room when the suspects came in to cover their tracks and steal video surveillance tapes.
“They went to go in the back, and I have a 110-pound French Mastiff, and the dog went at ‘em,” Rainone said last week. “Every dog has their day. Yesterday was Max’s. Tomorrow it will be their day,” Rainone said.
The clerk who was attacked was shaken up by the attack, but not seriously injured.
Police are looking for the public’s help to track down the robbers. If you know anything, you’re asked to call Cicero police at 708-652-2130.
