2 Men Charged in Leaf Blower Theft That Led to Search That Delayed Metra Trains

LAKE FOREST, IL — Two men were being held Thursday after police searched the village in response to a report of an robbery, the Chicago Tribune reports. Metra trains also were delayed during the search, the report added.

Police responded to a report by a landscaping service that two men stole a leaf blower from one of its vehicles in the 400 block of Linden Avenue, the report stated. Two men fitting the description given by the landscaping company's employee were pulled over on Deerpath Road, near the North Western Avenue Metra station, the report added.

During the stop, one of the men fled on foot, and police had trains stop service while they searched for him, the Tribune reports. This caused a delay of two Union Pacific trains between 25 minutes to an hour.

The second man was eventually apprehended, and both men were in custody waiting to be charged, the report stated.

Initially, the victim of the robbery thought one of the men had a gun, but no gun was found, according to the Tribune. The victim later told police that it was possible what he thought was a gun might have been a cell phone, the report added.

UPDATE (3:11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19): The two men taken into custody Thursday were charged Friday in connection with stealing a leaf blower from a landscaping company's truck, the Daily North Shore reports.

Ignacio Alvarez, 31, of the 700 Block of Wadsworth Avenue, Waukegan, and Juan Nieto, 31, of the 300 block of Powell Avenue, Waukegan, each were charged with two felony counts of theft.

PHOTO: (Image via Shutterstock)

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