Riverside Cop Prevents Armed Robbery: Report

RIVERSIDE, IL — A Riverside police officer noticed something out of place last week near the local 7-Eleven, a regular target of armed robberies. She he stopped and looked into it. He ended up stopping an armed robbery, police said.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, the officer saw a car in a lane of traffic near the 7-Eleven at 26th Street and Harlem Avenue. As the officer pulled up toward the car, the driver did a U-turn and went into the nearby Costco parking lot.

The officer then saw two men dressed in all black and wearing black face masks walking toward the front of 7-Eleven. The officer asked the men to stop, so they could talk. The men said they were just trying to find their car.

When the officer got out of his car, the men ran away, joined by a third person, according to a police report. Another officer found one of the men after a chase on foot and took him into custody. The man, identified as 22-year-old Dellis Woodland of Chicago, had cash and 83 pills of Xanax, police said.

Officers could not find the other suspects. However, they found a fully loaded 9mm Glock magazine in a side yard in the 7100 block of West 26th Street, but not the handgun itself. They also discovered a fully loaded Sig Sauer handgun in the same block. Officers said they believed one of the suspects who ran away still has the Glock.

After an interview, it was determined that Woodland was in Riverside and North Riverside to sell Xanax, according to the report. He fit the pattern of a man wanted for a number of armed robberies in Chicago and the western suburbs, police said.

With a search warrant for Woodland's phone, officers saw a photo of the Sig Sauer handgun on his social media and an internet search for "7-Eleven open 24 hours."

Just before the 7-Eleven incident, Riverside detectives had learned of an armed robbery in Oak Park, where the car used in the Riverside attempted robbery and the suspect in custody were a match, the report said. Proceeds from the Oak Park holdup were recovered in the car used in Riverside, police said.

Woodland's criminal history includes disorderly conduct, theft, felony weapon charges, warrant arrests and armed violence, police said.

In an email to Patch, Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said, "This was a dangerous situation and would've been the third armed robbery at this 7-Eleven in a short time period."

"Due to the suspect we arrested, we’ll be clearing several armed robberies in multiple suburbs over the next month. I’m thankful that no officer was injured, no shots were fired, and that the offender was not injured. He is being held on no bond at this time," Weitzel said.

Woodland was arrested on charges of armed violence, aggravated use of a weapon by a felon, possession of drugs with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance.