A suspect is in custody after an elderly woman was knocked to the ground during a robbery at the Walmart in Round Lake Beach, police said.
A woman, who was believed to be in her 60s or 70s, entered the vestibule of Walmart, located at 2680 North Route 83 in Round Lake Beach, around 8:40 a.m. January 5.
She was attempting to retrieve a cart when someone grabbed her purse from behind and yanked it hard enough to break the leather strap from her shoulder, Round Lake Beach Police Department Deputy Chief Ryan Rodriguez said.
The force of the purse snatching was hard enough to knock the woman to the ground.
The victim was alert enough to see multiple offenders enter two vehicles in the parking lot and leave the area at high speed, Rodriguez told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
Police were notified and the victim was able to provide a description of the two fleeing vehicles.
Officers responding to the Walmart traveling eastbound on Monaville Road spotted one of the offending vehicles traveling in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed.
An officer immediately attempted a U-turn on Monaville Road and witnessed the offending vehicle attempt to turn south on Silver Oaks Lane, Rodriguez said.
The suspect lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree.
Officers witnessed two offenders run from the disabled vehicle.
An officer was able to take one of the offenders into custody following a brief foot chase.
An alert was issued to area police departments through the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network (ISPERN).
Rodriguez said the second offender from the crashed car along with several offenders in the second suspect vehicle were able to evade police.
The offender who was taken into custody was identified as Hasaan Z. Carr, 18, of Round Lake Beach.
He was transported from the scene to the Northwestern Medicine Emergency Center in Grayslake and released back into police custody that evening.
Officers learned the crashed 2014 Nissan Pathfinder that Carr was driving had been stolen out of Fox Lake.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charges of robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, theft of property over $10,000, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, operating an uninsured vehicle, failure to yield to avoid an accident and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Carr later appeared in bond court and was ordered held on a $100,000 bond.
He remains held in the Lake County Jail and would need to post $10,000 cash to be released.