Riverside 7-Eleven Robbed At Gunpoint: Police

RIVERSIDE, IL — A 7-Eleven was robbed at gunpoint early Friday morning in Riverside, with the suspect ordering the clerk to crouch in the corner of the store, police said. A Riverside police officer was at the store within two minutes of the call.

According to police, the suspect brandished a black handgun and pointed it at the clerk about 4 a.m. at the 7-Eleven at Harlem and 26th. The 911 call was delayed 15 minutes.

The clerk described the suspect as a light-skinned African American man, who was wearing a blue hat with "King of...," with the rest of the lettering unknown. He also was wearing a gray shirt, gray pants with a stripe on them and a surgical mask, police said. The clerk saw the suspect leave the store on foot, heading west.

The suspect took money and Newport cigarettes, police said. The clerk was not hurt.

"The offender in this case came into the store with a surgical mask on," Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in a statement. "It was the same type of mask that is being used during this pandemic and when he got up to the counter, he displayed a handgun and robbed the store... No other customers were inside the store when the robbery occurred."

As for the delay in the 911 call, the chief told Patch in an email, "He was told by the offender to stay in the corner crouched and not call police. He was afraid that he would be shot, so he wanted to make sure he was gone from the area."

Because of the pandemic, the store's policy is for customers to knock on the door and then the clerk opens it. In this case, that protocol was followed.

The same person is suspected of armed robberies in Chicago, Oak Park and Westchester, police said.