UPDATE - BLACK ARMED ROBBERS forced employees & customers into back room during Tinley Park robbery

TINLEY PARK ILLINOIS HID THIS ARMED ROBBERY FROM THE PUBLIC FOR OVER A MONTH BECAUSE THE OFFENDERS WERE ARMED MALE BLACKS.

TPPD DIDN'T WANT TO "OFFEND" THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

Tinley Park police are investigating an armed robbery at a local cell phone store where two suspects forced four customers and two employees into the store bathroom, officials confirmed.

The incident, previously not made public by police, occurred at 7:37 p.m. May 13 at the Sprint store located at 9512 179th St., police Chief Steve Neubauer said.

Two male suspects walked into the store while two employees and three customers were in the store, police said.

Both men were African-American and dressed in dark clothing, witnesses told police. One suspect was wearing a red-knit skull cap and was described as being in his mid 20s and 5-foot-9 and weighing 150 pounds while the other, who had on black Wolverine boots, was believed to be in his early 30s and 5-foot-10 and weighing 250 pounds.

The younger, thinner man had a gun and forced the store's employees and customers to face the wall, take their phones out and throw them on the floor, police said.

They stole some cellphones and "some cash," police said. A store employee posted on Facebook that they snatched $150.

They were all then taken into the back of the store and rounded up in the bathroom, police said.

A witness who was shopping at the store with her husband told police that the younger man "yelled at everyone" and said "don't look at me, I don't want to make this a murder."

A fourth customer walked in to the store during the robbery and saw the five customers and employees facing the wall. He, too, was forced to face the wall and throw down his cell phone.

A store employee told police that the gun looked "strange," like it might have been a fake, while another customer said the gun's barrel "looked like it had wear near the muzzle and was turning gray."

One of the customers had a cell phone in the bathroom and called police.

Police believe a third man drove the other two in a getaway vehicle, which is believed to have been a silver Dodge Caravan or a Town and Country minivan.

Neubauer said police are investigating and following up on leads but have not made any arrests. Asked about surveillance footage, he said, "That's all under investigation."

Although the crime is not believed to be related to the Lane Bryant killings, Neubauer said the suspects' modus operandi "could ring to something very tragic happening at Brown's Chicken or Lane Bryant."

Five women were shot to death execution-style in a back bathroom of a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park on Feb. 2, 2008. The case remains unsolved. Two men were convicted of the 1993 murders of seven employees at a Brown's Chicken restaurant, whose bodies were piled in a freezer and walk-in cooler.

"We believe this is a very serious crime," Neubauer said, referring to last month's robbery. "When people start threatening violence at that level and they're armed, it's definitely a top priority to find out who they are. It's very scary for the victims to have somebody there that is controlling your whole life with a serious threat of violence."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/tinley_park/ct-tl-0627-tinley-armed-robbery-unsolved-20130621,0,4641958.story

http://tinleypark.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/police-searching-for-armed-robbers-after-sprint-store-incident?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001&evar4=picks-3-post