2 charged in string of gold chain robberies in Waukegan

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) -- Two men were arrested and charged in connection with a string of robberies of gold chains in north suburban Waukegan, police said.

Allan L. White, 20, and Manros Nickens III, 20, were arrested July 10 after police conducted a two-week investigation of the incidents; most were caught on surveillance video that police say show White committing the robberies while Nickens waits in a getaway vehicle.

• Police say both arrived at a laundromat in the 2400-block of Grand Avenue on June 23 around 1:30 pm. and a pharmacy in the 1800-block of Belvidere Road around 8 p.m. on June 25; in both incidents, White allegedly stole gold chains from a female victim's neck. Both victims suffered minor injuries.
• The two allegedly arrived at a produce market in the 2700-block of Grand Avenue around 8 p.m. on July 1, where White attacked a male employee, robbing him of his gold chain in the store's parking lot area, police said. The victim suffered a laceration to his hand. Just a half hour later, police say White attacked a woman for her purse in the checkout line at a pharmacy in the 700-block of North Green Bay Road. She struggled to keep her purse and suffered a fractured finger. Nickens' 1-year-old child was present for these robberies, police said.
• On July 8, police say White allegedly robbed two female victims' gold chains; one at a cleaners in the 2700-blcok of Martin Luther King Drive in North Chicago around 9:30 a.m. and another at 10 a.m. at a shoe store in the 2700-block of Grand Avenue in Waukegan. Nickens was not present.

White is charged with six counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of endangering the life of a child. Nickens is charged with four counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of endangering the life of a child. Both are being held on $500,000 bond and will appear in court on July 28.