Suspected robbers crash car, shoot at officers in Wilmette

WILMETTE, Ill. - A group of armed robbers flipped a stolen vehicle while trying to evade police early Tuesday in north suburban Wilmette.

Wilmette police said two armed men robbed a 63-year-old walking on a sidewalk in the 400 block of Central Avenue around 5:16 a.m. The suspects displayed a handgun and took the victim's cell phone, car keys and identification, police said.

The pair then fled along with a third male in a vehicle that was reported stolen from Winnetka on Sunday, officials said.

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Wilmette officers located the vehicle minutes after the robbery, and attempted a traffic stop near 10th Street and Central Avenue, police said. The driver fled north on 10th Street, but rolled the vehicle off the roadway and into a parking lot at 1630 Sheridan Road.

As officers approached the vehicle, one of the suspects fired a gunshot through the windshield. No one was struck, and Wilmette police said officers did not return fire.

With support from Kenilworth and Winnetka police, officers approached the vehicle a second time and took all three men into custody.

Officers recovered two semi-automatic handguns as well as the victim's belongings from inside the vehicle, police said.

One of the suspects was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries as a result of the crash, according to officials.

Wilmette police are still investigating and charges are pending.