Thieves Menaced Bolingbrook T-Mobile Employees, Customer at Gunpoint: FBI

Two men face federal charges after being apprehended shortly after an armed robbery at a Bolingbrook T-Mobile store.

Andrew Coleman, 30, of Country Club Hills, and 18-year-old Rashaud Gibson of Calumet City, are both charged with robbery affecting interstate commerce following the Nov. 6 incident, in which a store employee, manager and customer were ordered into a back room at gunpoint, the FBI said Monday.

The pair allegedly placed stolen cell phones in two laundry bags before fleeing the store, only to be caught thanks to a decoy cell phone that allowed T-Mobile to track the stolen goods, according to a complaint filed in federal court over the weekend.

The FBI alleges that at around 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, Coleman and Gibson walked into the T-Mobile store, 745 E. Boughton Rd., where Coleman allegedly produced what appeared to be a handgun, pointing it at a female employee and announcing, “This is a holdup.”

• Bolingbrook Police Investigating T-Mobile Armed Robbery

Video surveillance footage reportedly shows Coleman, who was wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt with a white stripe, ordering the employee, a manager and a customer into a back room at the store at gunpoint, the FBI said.

The footage also shows the second suspect, identified by the FBI as Gibson, enter the store and proceed to the office, according to the complaint.

The FBI alleges that inside the office, Coleman pushed the customer up against the wall, put a gun to the customer’s head and said, “You think you tough — don’t try to be tough.”

The female employee told police that she was ordered to place new cell phones, still in boxes, into a white mesh laundry bag. The employee also placed the decoy phone in the bag, the FBI said. According to the complaint, Gibson filled another white mesh bag with boxes he removed from a storage locker.

The FBI said surveillance video shows Gibson leave the office and exit the front door of the store carrying two white mesh bags. Meanwhile, Coleman opened a door to what appeared to be a bathroom, then motioned for the three victims to enter the bathroom, the FBI said. The complaint said video surveillance showed Coleman attempt to place a shovel under the door handle before exiting through a back door.

Decoy tracks alleged robbers

After the robbery, police spoke to the store manager, who was able to use software on a store computer to track the decoy phone’s location to 15340 Dixie Highway in Harvey, Ill., the complaint states

The phone’s location was relayed to law enforcement in Harvey, who observed two vehicles pull into a parking lot at that address.

Police in Harvey spotted a man exit one of the vehicles while carrying several items of clothing — including an item resembling the orange sweatshirt seen in the surveillance video, the FBI said. The suspect tossed the clothing into a charity donation box, according to the complaint. The sweatshirt was later recovered from the donation box.

Another individual reportedly exited the car, removed two bags from the trunk, and walked toward a liquor store, the FBI said.

Officers detained the individuals in the vehicles, while other officers entered the liquor store, the FBI said. Inside the store, police saw two individuals standing next to two black garbage bags, as well as several boxes of T-mobile cell phones that were on the floor, the complaint alleges. Inside each of the garbage bags was a white mesh bag, at least one of which contained a T-Mobile cell phone box, the FBI said.

The FBI complaint states that officers identified two of the individuals detained in the parking lot as Coleman and Gibson. Both suspects identified themselves from still photos from the robbery surveillance video, according to the FBI. Coleman also admitted to taking off the orange sweatshirt after the robbery and placing it in the charity donation box, according to the FBI.

Both men were arrested on federal charges, the FBI said.