Two men have been accused of robbing a Bolingbrook truck stop early Friday and then leading police on a chase, authorities said.
Michael Bernacki, 26, of Summit, and Jordan R. Mercado, 22, of Chicago, entered an truck stop in the 500 block of South Bolingbrook Drive near Interstate 55 about 2:40 a.m. Friday wearing masks and hoodies, according to police.
They brandished a pistol and demanded the clerk fill a bag with money from the register, police said. The clerk put more than $150 in the bag and the two men fled.
Soon after, police performed a traffic stop on a silver Mercedes as it attempted to enter southbound Interstate 55
As officers were speaking with Bernacki and Mercado, the car sped away, police said.
A brief chase ensued, but the suspects lost control of their car at Remington Boulevard and West 115th Street and crashed into a snow bank.
The suspects then fled on foot and were soon apprehended by police, who recovered the stolen cash from the car and the two suspects, police said.
A back BB gun pistol was found under the front seat of the car, police said, and the truck stop clerk identified both suspects.
Neither the suspects nor the responding police were injured.
Bernacki, of the 7400 block of West 60th Place in Summit, was charged with felony armed robbery, as well as reckless driving, fleeing and resisting an officer, according to the Will County sheriff’s office website.
Mercado, of the 5300 block of South Paulina Street in Chicago, was charged with felony armed robbery and a resisting charge.
Both men were ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail and remained in jail as of Monday, according to the sheriff’s office website.
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