Armed Robbery Attempted At Lake Bluff Shopping Center

LAKE BLUFF, IL — Police are looking for a man who allegedly tried to steal a woman's purse at knifepoint in the parking lot of a Lake Bluff shopping plaza. Officers were called to the Carriage Way Shopping Plaza in the 200 block of South Waukegan Road at 11:17 a.m. Saturday for a report of an attempted armed robbery, according to Lake Bluff Police Chief David Belmonte.

Police said a man wearing a dark colored hoodie and dark pants approached a 33-year-old woman as she was walking to her car and tried to grab her purse, but she pulled away.

The man then pulled out a knife and demanded she hand over the purse. She screamed and ran away. Police said she had no physical injury.

Police said the robber was described as about 5-foot, 8-inches tall and white with a slim build.

He was last seen running north from the shopping center, possibly on Thorn Tree Lane toward West Washington Avenue, police said.

Police from Lake Bluff and Lake Forest, along with a Lake County Sheriff's department canine unit searched the area. As of 1 p.m., officers finished searching the area but have been unable to locate a suspect.

Police released a photo from surveillance footage of the attempted robbery (above) in which the suspect is shown on the right. Anyone with any information about the incident was asked to call the Lake Bluff Police Department at 847-234-2151.

_{Area where police said an armed robbery suspect was last scene Saturday morning (Google Maps)}

_{Top photo: Image from surveillance footage at Carriage Way Shopping Plaza in Lake Bluff, Nov. 4, 2017 | Courtesy Lake Bluff PD}