Five people believed responsible for more than 20 armed robberies in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin are in custody, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Friday.
Curran said three more people could also be charged for participating in what they call an the armed robbery ring that operated between April 25 and June 25. Their names are being withheld until additional charges are approved by the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.
The men were arrested after a tip to Lake County Crime Stoppers. The sheriff's department also had the cooperation of 15 police agencies and the U.S. Marshal's Service, Curran said.
Arrested are: Michael R. Boyle, 42, of Twin Lakes, Wis., who Curran alleges is the ringleader; Randy E. O'Brien, 20, of Iron River, Mich.; Terrance C. Walker Jr., 22, of Elgin and Sean Kettledon, 35, of Paddock Lake, Wis. All are in Lake County jail on $250,000 bond, Curran said.
The fifth arrestee, a 16-year-old male juvenile from Silver Lake, Wis., is being held by Lake County juvenile authorities, Curran said.
Curran announced the arrests during the news conference in Waukegan early Friday morning. He was joined by officials from Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Antioch, Richmond and the McHenry County Sheriff's Office, as well as law enforcement officials from Wisconsin.
Curran said the group is believed responsible for armed robberies to 21 locations.
The spree ended with the arrest of four of the suspects early Thursday at a gas station at Grass Lake Road and Route 59, between Antioch and Fox Lake in unincorporated Lake County.
Curran said police in both states noticed a similar pattern in the robberies and began working on the cases together, then brought in the U.S. Marshal's Service for intelligence and information processing.
At least $11,000 was taken in the robberies, Curran said, but an exact total of the take was not available Friday.
No one was injured in any of the incidents, he said.
The adults are charged with one count of armed robbery, Curran said, but he expects other charges to be filed in Lake County and other jurisdictions.
Besides the usual assortment of old shotguns and hunting rifles collected on Saturday, there were some more villainous weapons that had been adapted for the street: two sawed off shotguns with sawed-off stocks and a sawed-off rifle.
"Some people say this isn't worth the money, but if collecting one of these guns saves a life, you can't put a price on that," said Andy Anderson, executive director of Crime Stoppers, which sponsors the program along with Lake County Chiefs of Police Association, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group. The program helps prevent accidental shootings, suicides, homicides, and other gun-related crimes.
Each gun will be run through the Northern Illinois Crime Laboratory to see if it was used in a crime and then will be destroyed, Anderson said.
"In no way does this infringe on someone's Second Amendment rights. These guns were forfeited without legislative or executive action," said Sheriff Mark Curran.
"As you can see, many of these were not well-maintained or kept in a safe location. That creates a risk, and that's why it is money well spent," Curran said.
Sheriff's deputies were stationed at each drop-off point in the county. The majority of handguns were revolvers, which Curran said are slowly becoming extinct because of the popularity of handguns with ammunition clips.
