Silver Cross Stickup Was Avoidable: Cops

NEW LENOX, IL - It was one of those preventable crimes. A 20-year-old Joliet man agreed to meet up with someone he met in a Facebook Marketplace where the buyer was looking for a PlayStation. They agreed to meet up in one of the dark parking lots near the Silver Cross Hospital, which is located near Route 6 and Interstate 355. Then things went downhill.

Around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, June 23, the Joliet resident showed up and furnished $180 cash to the man in the parking lot. He expected to receive a Sony PlayStation 4 Pro. Instead, he became an armed robbery victim. The seller didn't bring along the PlayStation 4 Pro. He brought along a gun, pulled it out and then sped off, New Lenox Police told Patch.

Deputy Chief of Police Louis Alessandrini said the weekend crime is another reminder to Will County area residents that the New Lenox Police Department and several area police departments have designated Internet exchange sites that are safe and equipped with 24-hour video surveillance cameras.

"We are obviously concerned about safety when people are conducting business on Craigslist or social media transactions," the deputy chief explained.

This month, the Will County Sheriff's Department on Laraway Road became the latest police department to office a safe space for people who don't know each other to do a safe Internet exchange.

Last November, the New Lenox Patch produced this story explaining how a carjacking in New Lenox was totally preventable, had the victim used the Internet exchange parking lot at the New Lenox Police Station.

Main image via Google Maps