A Hazel Crest man was charged with armed robbery after sticking up Flossmoor’s CVS store on May 18, police said Friday.
Keith Crumpler, 51, of the 17000 block of Shae Drive, is also facing charges from a string of robberies in Chicago and other south suburban communities, said Tod Kamleiter, Flossmoor’s deputy police chief. He said Crumpler was charged with the CVS robbery after he was identified in a May 24 lineup at the Flossmoor police station.
Video evidence from the CVS store was also conclusive in identifying Crumpler, Kamleiter said. Police have video footage of him both inside and outside the store, he said.
Flossmoor police responded to the robbery at 2:25 p.m. on May 18. An employee told police that a man entered the store at 3200 Flossmoor Road, displayed a handgun and demanded money from the cash register.
The suspect went around the back of the counter and removed cash from the register. He fled the store and the employee called police.
Kamleiter said there were customers in the store when the robbery occurred but they were unaware that it occurred. No one was injured in the incident.
Surrounding communities were notified about the robbery and Homewood-Flossmoor High School was placed on a soft lockdown until officers completed a threat assessment.
Flossmoor detectives subsequently learned that a man matching the description of the suspect was responsible for several robberies. They sent an alert to police departments in Chicago and other nearby communities.
Kamleiter said Flossmoor received information from the Cook County Region Organized Crime Task Force indicating that the same suspect was believed responsible for more than a half dozen robberies, including two at 95th Street and Ashland Avenue in Chicago and similar crimes in Markham and Posen.
After Crumpler was taken into custody following a Chicago robbery, police sent Flossmoor a message giving the description of the suspect and his vehicle, Kamleiter said.
Flossmoor detectives worked closely with Chicago police and determined that “this was the same suspect,” he said.
Crumpler was charged with three counts of armed robbery for the crimes in Chicago. Kamleiter said. Bond in those cases was set at $300,000.
A bond hearing for the Flossmoor robbery, and possibly the incidents in Posen and Markham, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 30 at the Markham courthouse, he said.