'Most Terrifying 30 Seconds Of My Life:' Inside The 7-Eleven Takeover
OAK LAWN, IL — A witness inside the 7-Eleven store during a takeover robbery in Oak Lawn, described the robbers as a crack criminal team that worked quickly and efficiently, traumatizing employees and customers for life in mere seconds.
“It took between 30 seconds and 60 seconds, it wasn’t pleasant,” said the witness, who initially contacted Patch after the robbery. “It was a terrifying experience.”
The witness ran into some friends Friday morning at the 7-Eleven store across the street from Christ Hospital on 95th Street. After buying their coffee and newspapers, two of his buddies were standing outside the store.
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>>> Employees And Customers Robbed In Brazen Takeover 7-Eleven Robbery
“It just so happened that me and my friend were in the store and our friends were outside,” the witness told Patch, who did not want his name used.
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Beside the witness and his friend, two other customers and two store employees were inside the store. The witness was standing at the counter waiting to pay for his newspaper when five men entered the store at 7:01 a.m.
“They were between the ages 18 and 25. They were dressed in black and wearing masks,” he said. “When I saw the guy come into the store holding a gun at his side, I knew what was happening.”
The customers and store employees were forced to lay on the floor at gunpoint. One of the robbers ordered them to hand over their cash and cell phones. They went through the pockets of the witness’s friend “but he had already paid for his newspaper.”
The witness said his friends standing outside were also robbed by the crew on their way into the store.
“They took their possessions on the way in,” he said.
The vehicle police believe the crew fled in after a brazen takeover robbery at an Oak Lawn 7-Eleven store. (Oak Lawn Police Department)
After robbing the customers and grabbing the cash from the register, the five left the store. On the way out, one of them tried to steal a vehicle belonging to the witness’s friend who was standing in front of the store. The crew member’s gun was later found in his friend’s car.
Although shaken by the brazen act, the witness tried to stay calm ”because an elderly woman in the store was pretty shaken up,” he told Patch.
Oak Lawn paramedics were called to the store to check an elderly customer but she did not require hospitalization.
Police said the five were last seen fleeing north on Kilbourn Avenue in a dark gray Jeep Cherokee, with a temporary Illinois tag, 163AC317
Police released an image of the fleeing Jeep Cherokee with the temporary Illinois tag 163AC317 taken by one of the village’s 42 FLOCK cameras. The Jeep had been reported stolen.
The crew that robbed the convenience store has been tied to numerous other armed robberies in the southwest Chicago area and northwest Indiana, Oak Lawn police said.
As for the witness, he is still trying to shake off th shock.
“It was pretty much the most terrifying 30 seconds,” he said. “But nobody got hurt, no shots were fired. No one was physically harmed.”
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