Blue Island Man Charged In Armed Robbery Of A BP Customer In Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL — A Blue Island man is charged with an armed robbery that happened in October at an Oak Lawn gas station.

Raul Perez, 24, is facing charges of armed robbery, armed robbery with a firearm, armed habitual offender, attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, felon in possession of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful use of firearm.

Perez is currently being held on attempted murder charges of a peace officer in the shooting of a Bedford Park police officer on Nov. 26.

>>> 2 Robbed At Oak Lawn, Worth Gas Stations By Man In Stolen Car: Cops

The morning of Oct. 18, Oak Lawn police officers responded to a robbery at the BP gas station near 110th Street and Pulaski Road. The vehicle owner was inside the gas station when he saw a man, later identified as Perez, inside his vehicle, police said. When the vehicle owner confronted Perez, police said he pointed a plastic bag at the owner implying there was a gun in the bag.

Oak Lawn police said Perez drove off in a silver Honda CRV, that had been reported stolen in a carjacking and was later found burned by Chicago police.

Moments before the Oak Lawn robbery, a man matching Perez’s description robbed a vehicle owner at a gas station in Worth, taking the vehicle owner’s wallet, cell phone and other personal items. The suspect is said to have fled in a silver Honda CRV.

Worth and Chicago police provided resources that led to the identity of Perez as the suspect in the gas station robberies,said Division Chief Gerald Vetter, of the Oak Lawn Police Department. The Cook County State’s Attorney indicted Perez in the gas station robberies on Dec. 18.

>>> Officer Shot Several Times In Bedford Park: Police

Perez was arrested in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, after the shooting of a Bedford Park police officer. The Bedford Park officers were investigating an abandoned vehicle with heavy damage that had been stolen in a Chicago carjacking. The officer was shot multiple times when he and other officers tried to stop Perez and another man from allegedly fleeing in a vehicle at a gas station on Archer Road.

According to Illinois Department of Corrections records, Perz was released on parole in July where he had been serving concurrent sentences stemming from convictions in 2020 for possession of a firearm by a felon.