Chicago men rob Addison gas station at gunpoint, lead police on high-speed chase: prosecutors

DUPAGE COUNTY - Two Chicago men will remain behind bars through their trial after allegedly robbing a gas station at gunpoint in west suburban Addison on Tuesday and then leading police on a high-speed chase.

Around 11:50 p.m., prosecutors say a Villa Park police officer was monitoring a vehicle traveling westbound on I-290 that was suspected of being involved in an armed robbery at a Villa Park gas station earlier this month.

The vehicle eventually exited I-290 heading westbound on Lake Street into Addison. It then backed into a parking space at the Speedway gas station located at 701 E. Lake Street.

According to prosecutors, 24-year-old Willie Carter and 24-year-old Anton Stephens entered the Speedway and while one of them filled a garbage bag with cigarettes, the other held a gun to the side of the head of the female clerk and ordered her to open the cash register. She was unable to do so, however, because the register at the time was rebooting.

Then, prosecutors say a male customer came into the store and one of the suspects pointed the gun at him and ordered him to the ground before stealing his wallet.

The duo then left the store carrying the bag of cigarettes and fled eastbound in their car on Lake Street. A Villa Park police officer deployed spike strips in the eastbound lanes, but the suspects avoided them by driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Lake Street.

A high-speed police chase then ensued, with at times the suspects driving more than 100 mph, prosecutors said. Twenty police vehicles from multiple jurisdictions were involved. The chase went from Lake Street to Route 83, to westbound I-290, I-355, Army Trail Road, eastbound I-290, 25th Avenue, and Gardner Road.

Eventually, the suspects' vehicle came to a stop when it hit spike strips on I-290 at Mannheim Road near the intersection of Gardner Road and Gladstone Street. There, the suspects' vehicle crashed into a marked police car.

Prosecutors say both men fled on foot but were taken into custody within blocks of the crash.

Willie Carter and Anton Stephens

Officers searched the pair's vehicle and allegedly recovered a loaded Glock 22 pistol with an extended magazine.

"In DuPage County, we will not sit idly by and allow the type of violent gun crime such as is alleged against Mr. Carter and Mr. Stephens to occur," DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. "I cannot overstate the seriousness of the charges against these two men. After allegedly robbing a gas station at gunpoint, the defendants then allegedly led approximately twenty police cars on an extremely dangerous high-speed chase. We are all thankful that no innocent motorists or the victims at the gas station were physically harmed as a result of the defendants’ alleged actions."

Both Carter and Stephens are due in court on Feb. 26. If found guilty, Stephens faces 45 years in prison while Carter faces 60 due to his criminal history.