Naperville Carjacked Car Used In Armed Robbery: Cops

CHAMPAIGN, IL — A car taken at gunpoint from a Naperville man on Tuesday was used in an armed robbery later in the day nearly 150 miles away and was reported as suspicious at two different banks, police said. Champaign police said the blue 2007 Toyota Corolla was involved in a stickup at Dotty's Slots and Video Poker, 12 E. Green St., about three hours after the 10 a.m. carjacking. The car was stolen from a 61-year-old man who told police a man wearing a black ski mask approached him in the 0-100 block of Testa Drive, pointed a gun at him and demanded the car before driving away.

Twenty minutes after the carjacking, the Corolla passed through a Bolingbrook toll plaza while headed south on I-355. According to Champaign police, an occupant of the same car entered Dotty's Slots at around 1 p.m., displayed a handgun and robbed the store of an undisclosed amount of money.

At around 2:54 p.m., employees at a bank in Savoy, Illinois called 911 to report a suspicious vehicle in the bank parking lot. The vehicle has since been identified as the same blue Corolla, police said.

Minutes later, at around 3:10 p.m., workers at a bank on Prospect Avenue saw the same suspicious vehicle on bank property and called police, according to Champaign police.

The car originally had a license plate of V265067, but Champaign police said the suspect or suspects may have stolen or otherwise obtained different plates for the vehicle.

The carjacking suspect was described as a black man in his 20s with a thin build, wearing all black and a black ski mask, Naperville police said. The suspect in the Dotty's robbery was also a black male in his late teens to early 20s with a thin build, Champaign police said. The armed robbery suspect was about 5'08" and wearing light blue jeans, black tennis shoes, a black shirt and a black mask that covered the bottom portion of his face, police said.

Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call police. For an in-progress incident, call 911 or contact the Champaign Police Department Investigations Division at 217-351-4545. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Crime Stoppers by phone at: (217) 373-8477 (TIPS); online at www.373tips.com; or the “P3 Tips” mobile app. Crime Stoppers will pay a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these crimes.

Image via Champaign police