STOLEN PIPES from Chicago Pipe Show
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I suspect that the pipes were not intentionally targeted, but a "bonus" for the thieves who were really after the cash.
Only police report in St Charles and surrounding counties matching the original description.
ST. CHARLES – A person walking in the parking lot at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles, reported being the victim of a robbery shortly before 3 p.m. May 2, police announced in a news release.
Two offenders demanded the victim’s backpack, which contained personal items and an undetermined amount of cash, the release stated.
The victim turned over the backpack and was not hurt during the robbery, the release stated.
The two left in a vehicle driven by a third suspect eastbound on East Main Street, but police were unable to locate them, the release stated.
The two suspects who demanded the backpack were described as Hispanic, around age 25. One was 5-feet-11-inches tall and 160 pounds wearing a dark shirt, blue jeans and a dark hat, according to the release.
The other suspect was 5-feet-6-inches tall, 140 pounds, with short dark hair and a dark complexion, the release stated.
There was no description available of the driver.
The vehicle was described as a dark colored, four-door, passenger car, the release stated.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Investigations Section at 630-377-4435 or 866-378-4267. Citizens who report information can remain anonymous if they wish.
ST. CHARLES – A person walking in the parking lot at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles, reported being the victim of a robbery shortly before 3 p.m. May 2, police announced in a news release.
Two offenders demanded the victim’s backpack, which contained personal items and an undetermined amount of cash, the release stated.
The victim turned over the backpack and was not hurt during the robbery, the release stated.
The two left in a vehicle driven by a third suspect eastbound on East Main Street, but police were unable to locate them, the release stated.
The two suspects who demanded the backpack were described as Hispanic, around age 25. One was 5-feet-11-inches tall and 160 pounds wearing a dark shirt, blue jeans and a dark hat, according to the release.
The other suspect was 5-feet-6-inches tall, 140 pounds, with short dark hair and a dark complexion, the release stated.
There was no description available of the driver.
The vehicle was described as a dark colored, four-door, passenger car, the release stated.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Investigations Section at 630-377-4435 or 866-378-4267. Citizens who report information can remain anonymous if they wish.
So, we are all dishonorable? I'm not buying that.
This appears, based on the information available, to be a robbery. All sorts of possibilities arise from loose lips, a gross tactical error (forty grand dictates an armed guard), simple bad luck (wrong time and place), possible bank employee involvement, even the possibility of fraud. We can opine, at length, all day.
I'd love to read the conclusion in a few days or so. Chances are someone involved will brag, inform or otherwise slip up.
This appears, based on the information available, to be a robbery. All sorts of possibilities arise from loose lips, a gross tactical error (forty grand dictates an armed guard), simple bad luck (wrong time and place), possible bank employee involvement, even the possibility of fraud. We can opine, at length, all day.
I'd love to read the conclusion in a few days or so. Chances are someone involved will brag, inform or otherwise slip up.
OK... Since I can't edit my previous post, I'll add to it.
I just got off the phone with someone who talked with Rodrigo after the robbery. This info is straight from the horse, in other words.
The assault DID occur on the PR resort grounds. Also, the money was in a separate container from the backpack. At least one of the thieves was seen in the bank lobby when he arrived to pick up the money, and that individual apparently followed him to Portello's where Rodrigo ate lunch, and then again to the resort, striking a few dozen yards before he was safely inside it.
The sequence of events began appx 1:30 pm Wednesday. The backpack w/pipes appeared to be a target of opportunity---a potential bonus to the robbers---so was taken "just because they could."
Sorry for the erroneous info previously. It came from a reliable source, but wasn't first hand.
I just got off the phone with someone who talked with Rodrigo after the robbery. This info is straight from the horse, in other words.
The assault DID occur on the PR resort grounds. Also, the money was in a separate container from the backpack. At least one of the thieves was seen in the bank lobby when he arrived to pick up the money, and that individual apparently followed him to Portello's where Rodrigo ate lunch, and then again to the resort, striking a few dozen yards before he was safely inside it.
The sequence of events began appx 1:30 pm Wednesday. The backpack w/pipes appeared to be a target of opportunity---a potential bonus to the robbers---so was taken "just because they could."
Sorry for the erroneous info previously. It came from a reliable source, but wasn't first hand.
That kind of cash anywhere. It's the risk you take when you, or the person you're doing a deal with, don't want to leave a paper trail. Of course, a $40,000 withdrawal does get reported, so there's a paper trail.
All of the pipes were stolen from a show exhibitor in the parking lot of the show hotel. Just before the robbery, the exhibitor withdrew a significant amount of cash from a local bank where he was observed by one of the robbers. He was followed to the hotel and robbed as he exited his car. I would describe it as a strong arm robbery with three robbers attacking one exhibitor. They wanted and got the cash, and took everything else from our exhibitor. The pipes were taken as a part of a cash robbery and were not likely the motive for the robbery. The hotel is not at fault for the robbery, the parking lot was only the scene of the crime.
dochudson, I think St. Charles, where the pipe show took place, is well out of the city, really something of a country setting. It's no where near the corporate city limits of the City of Chicago. That's not to say that some of the crime in Chicago doesn't overlap, but that this would be a different atmosphere with a much lower crime rate than some parts of Chicago. Most of Illinois, in terms of square miles, is made of of smaller cities and towns and farms and countryside, and that's St. Charles. As we see, crime is there too, but it could throw off ones calculation of the need for security and the probability of crime. Now with the opioid epidemic, many small town and rural places have a crime problem, and the epidemic draws professional criminals to smaller places. Country folks may be locking their doors and vehicles more these days. Were the pipes a bonus or part of the target? Depends on how planned this heist was. They may have expected standard tourist cash, a few hundred bucks, and a tote of clothes and maybe a bit of jewelry. Or they may have had a bead on the pipe show as bringing in some heavier cash and some pipes of value. The fact that they didn't hurt the victim makes it sound more professional, bigger take and less pressure on law enforcement. Somehow I don't think the sheriff and other law enforcement need my help. Ha! Sounds like security cameras weren't there to help. The table top pipe theft was more pathetic, the usual kleptomaniac longing for the pipe he couldn't buy, probably experiencing it as a gift, as do many thieves. I picked up a nifty motorcycle jacket in Hong Kong off my ship in the Navy, and it was snagged out of a locked locker. Probably a gift from me, in someone's contorted mind.
maker et all, 40K for a seller that deals in top end high priced pipes is not a huge sum for a show the size of Chicago. For us common folk, it's a different story. The ONLY good side of this is that Rodrigo was not harmed.
Regards
Michael J. Glukler
Regards
Michael J. Glukler
All round discouraging for us and the show.. It's almost as if the thieves knew what Rodrigo would do that day. To have happened to be in the bank and seen him getting all that cash, and then on the spot deciding to rob him. Could be but it seems unlikely.
Holy goodness. One has to assume $49K+ of pipes would be insured somehow?
I'm just glad he's ok. This is disgusting.
I'm just glad he's ok. This is disgusting.
While reports of the robbery are indeed sad, they do not surprise me. I'm with Warren that this was a tactical blunder by the victim. Arranging for the delivery of a large amount of cash at an out of town bank raises eyebrows and starts conversations. I suspect that bank camera footage will show the victim taking delivery of the cash within eyesight of other bank customers. Then he goes to lunch, cash in hand? That would give the robber time to muster some support.
I'm not blaming the victim, but this didn't have to happen. The cash could have been delivered directly to the hotel, for a modest fee.
This robbery should in no way diminish the reputations of the show or the hotel. They had nothing to do with it.
I'm not blaming the victim, but this didn't have to happen. The cash could have been delivered directly to the hotel, for a modest fee.
This robbery should in no way diminish the reputations of the show or the hotel. They had nothing to do with it.
Yes. One safe to another. And if I'm withdrawing cash like that, I'm not making pitstops on the way to safety.
I'm not one for victim blaming either, though. Thieves are monsters.
I would certainly have some concerns about the bank and its personnel, or whoever might have been privy to Rodrigo picking up a large amount of cash. It seems a little too neat to be a coincidence that a robber just happened to be waiting around for him to appear. Still, all just idle speculation on my part. The important thing is that Rodrigo wasn't injured.
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