Thursday morning a large contingent of police officers descended on Rosati’s Pizza in Mundelein after a report of a man with a handgun taking money from a cash register.
The call was determined to be false, but it was just the start of a tangled case that police say involved the “swatting call,” a FedEx truck robbery and an attempt to lure officers away from a car at a crime scene.
Mundelein Deputy Police Chief John Monahan said the 911 call came in at 10:43 a.m. Thursday.
A large contingent of officers created a perimeter around the pizza restaurant, 3110 W. Route 60, after the caller reported a man with a handgun taking money from the cash register, according to Monahan.
“Oh now this guy is with somebody,” the caller told dispatchers, describing a second person’s involvement in the alleged robbery.
An employee slowly exited the building and Monahan said a search revealed no signs of an armed robbery.
About an hour before the phony pizza robbery call, police say they apprehended two men for a strong-arm robbery of a FedEx driver near an apartment complex in the 0-100 block of Washington Boulevard, according to Monahan.
No weapons were involved in the robbery, but Monahan said the driver was “struck to the ground.”
Terence A. James, 18, of the 10700 South Normal Avenue, Chicago, and Rashawn R. Jacox, 19, of the 400 block of 172nd Place, Chicago, were found a short distance away from the apartment complex and the FedEx driver identified them in a lineup, according to Monahan.
Both men were charged with felony counts of robbery.
An officer was still “sitting on the vehicle” near the apartment complex’s parking lot waiting for a tow truck when the call about Rosati’s Pizza was fielded by dispatchers.
Monahan said that officer was assigned to stay with the car regardless of the possible armed robbery across town. A few moments after the call, a teenager approached the car wielding keys and claiming it belonged to his brother.
The officer guarding the car apprehended the 16-year-old, according to Monahan. Having acquired a search warrant for the teenager’s cellphone, Monahan said investigators noticed a 911 call placed at the same time as the false report about Rosati’s.
“Fortunately, there was an officer on scene that put two-and-two together and asked the right questions that yielded the wrong answers and allowed for probable cause to detain the person,” Monahan said.
Although police found items inside the car that were linked to other reported crimes, Monahan said he couldn’t definitively say if the false report was a distraction designed to lure police away so the teenager could retrieve the car.
“We didn’t get a statement, so we can only surmise what his intent was, but based on the information we have it sure seems like that was the purpose of the false call,” Monahan said.
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The false police report was originally labeled as a “swatting incident,” which is when false reports are made to provoke responses from SWAT teams or bomb squad.
Monahan said the car belonging to Jacox and James had not been searched when the armed robbery report was received. He said investigators were waiting for a warrant and had planned to search the car at the impound.
Several items inside the car, mostly electronics like computers and phones, were reported stolen from cars at the Washington Boulevard apartment complex, according to Monahan.
“Furthermore, we’ve learned that they’ve been involved in multiple other strong-arm robberies in other communities,” Monahan said. “Officers from those communities came here to interview them but are not yet ready to file charges.”
Monahan said Mundelein is still sorting through the Washington Boulevard items in order to get the correct owners signing accurate complaints. He said subsequent burglary to motor vehicle charges will likely be filed.
Monahan declined to say what other towns are involved at this point. However, he said they are all towns in Cook County.
The teenager was charged with a felony count of disorderly conduct and was transported to the Depke Juvenile Justice Complex in Vernon Hills. Jacox and James were remanded to the Lake County jail on $30,000 bonds associated with the FedEx robbery charges.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the exact location of the car.