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Police connect Skokie salon robbery to similar cases
Updated: February 11, 2013 6:22AM
SKOKIE — An armed robbery of a hair salon the morning of Dec. 27 is believed to be part of a string of salon robberies in as many as five other communities in December and January, authorities said.
Police said a man carrying a backpack entered Skokie’s Hair Cuttery at about 10:20 a.m. Dec. 27 at 9442 Skokie Blvd.
The suspect selected a bottle of shampoo before approaching the register. Another bottle of shampoo was recommended for the suspect who had the clerk exchange it, police said.
When the cashier rang up the purchase, police said, the suspect produced a black handgun from his backpack and twice demanded that she give him money.
Police said the cashier became “flustered” and asked someone at the shampoo station what to do. She was instructed to give the suspect money.
The cashier, according to police, placed $110 inside the suspect’s open backpack. He was last seen walking northbound in an alley on the 9500 block of Skokie Boulevard.
In other cases in Niles, Bensenville, Lombard, Glen Ellyn and possibly Chicago, there were similarities in the description of the suspect, the shops he targeted and details of the robberies.
The suspect is described as male, white, between 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 1 inches and weighing 200 to 230 pounds. He has also been described as wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans, a gray knitted hat, sunglasses during the day with a scarf covering his face, dark gloves and gray or blue tennis shoes while carrying a dark colored shoulder bag.
The suspect in these cases selected an item from the shelf, brought it to the register and brandished a long barrel revolver before demanding money from the clerk, police said.
In each case, a salon in a strip mall was targeted.
Authorities advised that those who encounter the suspect comply with his demands. If there is opportunity, they said, witnesses should call 9-1-1, and if they can’t talk to an operator, they are advised to put down the phone and leave the line open.
Authorities also are asking that witnesses note clothing description, speech or accent, direction of travel or vehicle description and whether suspicious people are loitering in the area.
“Be observant but do not put yourself and others in harms way,” police said in a community alert released Friday.
