A quick-witted waitress sparked a massive search Wednesday morning in Algonquin when she tipped off police that she believed two “fidgety” men eating steak and eggs in her restaurant had been involved in a violent Chicago carjacking the day before.
Late Wednesday, one suspect was in custody; the other remained at large.
Algonquin police would not identify the man at large but described him as possibly armed with a handgun and dangerous. They urged residents to lock their doors and call 911 to report anyone suspicious.
Police described the suspect as a white man about 30 years old and 6 feet tall with a slim build and brown hair. He may have been wearing glasses. He was last seen near Algonquin Road and Main Street in Algonquin.
No charges had been filed against the other man.
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He was captured with the help of a police dog about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in a wooded area near Armstrong and Berg Streets in Algonquin.
Because the carjacking occurred in Chicago, the city’s Police Department would handle the case if charges are filed, said Chicago police spokeswoman JoAnn Taylor.
About 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, a man was parking his 1995 Toyota Avalon in a garage in the 3500 block of North Reta Avenue when two men forced him at gunpoint into the back seat and stole the car, Taylor said.
The men drove for more than an hour before shooting their captive and dumping him in an alley near the 2800 block of North Austin Avenue, Taylor said. The men stole his wallet before fleeing with his car, she said.
The victim, Salim Cato, 76, was treated for a graze wound on his face at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center and released, said his son, Jose.
Police in northwest suburban Carpentersville joined the hunt about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when a patrol officer tried to stop a car driving on the grass in front of the Fox View apartment complex.
The car traveled north on Oxford Drive and then onto Bolz Road, where it went over an embankment into the Silverstone Lake subdivision, according to Carpentersville Police Cmdr. Michael Kilbourne.
The car was empty by the time police reached it, Kilbourne said, but its license plate matched the vehicle that had been stolen in Chicago.
A search involving several police departments continued until about 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, Kilbourne said.
A waitress at Reese’s Restaurant on Main Street in Algonquin had seen news reports of Tuesday’s carjacking and the search in Carpentersville when two men walked in between 7:45 and 8 a.m. and sat in the first booth.
“They were fidgety,” said the waitress, who did not want her name used. “They said their car blew up on Sandbloom Road.”
Sandbloom Road intersects Bolz Road, near where Carpentersville police say the stolen vehicle was found. The men smelled of alcohol, the waitress said.
“They said they had a busy morning, but now it’s going to be OK because they were going to have a big breakfast,” the waitress said.
Her suspicion piqued by their demeanor and comments about their car blowing up, the waitress called police.
“She’s an alert citizen,” said Algonquin police spokesman Christopher Filippini. “You have to give her credit.”
A police detective from Algonquin and another from Carpentersville entered the restaurant, both wearing plainclothes, and the suspects soon left through a side door, one of them first paying for their meals, the waitress said.
With squad cars from several departments responding, one suspect was tracked down by a police dog about 40 minutes later, Filippini said.
Schools in the area were locked down as police combed neighborhoods, abandoned buildings and bicycle trails along the Fox River.
John Kirchhoff, principal of St. John’s Lutheran School on Jefferson Street in Algonquin, a few blocks from the restaurant, said he locked down the school as soon as he saw squad cars pulling into the driveway “in droves” about 9:15 a.m.
Kirchhoff said that during a lockdown, all entrances to the school remain closed and classrooms are locked with students inside.
Kirchhoff said police helped escort morning preschool children to their parents at 11:30 a.m. An afternoon preschool class was canceled, he said.
Though the school received dozens of calls from parents, many were more than willing to leave their children at the school, Kirchhoff said.
“We’re surrounded by police,” he said. “We feel very safe.”
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Police called off their search for the second suspect about 2:45 p.m. but said patrols would be increased and tips would continue to be checked.