Three teens were in custody and one more person was being sought after a robbery call Thursday afternoon in Evanston led to a pursuit that ended on a Rogers Park beach, police said.
Evanston officers responded to a call of a robbery in progress in the 1700 block of Monroe Street in the north suburb about 4:05 p.m., said Evanston Police Lt. Joe Dugan.
Officers found that two teens had tried to rob a 70-year-old woman in the alley there. One of the teens was armed with a weapon, which was later determined to be a pellet gun, and demanded the woman’s purse.
After the woman began to scream, the teens jumped into a vehicle and started driving south on Ridge Avenue, Dugan said. After a short time, Evanston police gave up their pursuit and Chicago police took it over, he said.
Just before 4:15 p.m., Chicago police near Sheridan Road and Touhy Avenue saw a red minivan wanted in connection with the attempted robbery, heading south in the northbound lanes of Sheridan, said Officer Kevin Quaid, a Chicago police spokesman.
Officers followed the minivan until it got stuck in the sand at the lakefront in Loyola Park–witnesses said near North Shore Avenue–where four people in the van ran away, Quaid said.
Three teens were taken into custody, while a fourth “made good his escape,” Quaid said.
Police found a pellet gun inside the vehicle the teens were driving, Evanston police said. The vehicle had been reported stolen in Chicago.
A 15-year-old boy from Calumet City, 16-year-old boy from Chicago and a 17-year-old boy from Chicago face a charge of aggravated robbery, Evanston police said. The 15-year-old boy was taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
The teens could face additional charges, because of the stolen vehicle. Detectives are also working to bring charges against the fourth teen who was never arrested on the scene.
No one was injured in the robbery attempt or the pursuit.