Serial armed robbery suspect arrested outside Pottery Barn Kids with knife, prosecutors say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Police are crediting video from a store surveillance camera for helping them arrest a serial armed robbery suspect outside a North Side store.

Willie Doles, 39, appeared in court Thursday on five counts of armed robbery and is being held without bond. Prosecutors said he's responsible for a string of recent robberies targeting businesses in Chicago and the western suburbs.

The bold, midday robberies were all committed by a man with a knife who was not hesitant to get rough with his victims, prosecutors said. Doles was just released on parole from prison April 13. Twenty-three days later, police said he robbed the Green Goddess Boutique in Bucktown, and during a struggle with an employee, he cut her wrist.

Four more similar robberies followed, police said. In one at a West Loop Subway, a security camera caught pictures of Doles, and other surveillance cameras captured images of his car with temporary plates.

Police then set up surveillance on a South Side home and watched Wednesday afternoon as Doles left. They followed him as he parked, not far from a Pottery Barn Kids store on the North Side.

As he walked toward the front door of the store, police made their move and took Doles into custody. Prosecutors said Doles was carrying a knife and was apparently about to strike again.

The arrest is welcome news to victims of the robbery spree.

"Definitely hearing that this issue was resolved fairly quickly considering the circumstances is a huge relief," said Vicky Freyre, a robbery victim.

Doles was sentenced to 13 years in 2009 for the armed robbery of a South Side liquor store. Three years prior to that, he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years on a Class X drug offense, and two years before that, he was given a five-year sentence for aggravated robbery.

Doles' criminal past includes other drug and violent crime convictions going back to the mid-1990s. Because several of his past convictions are Class X felonies, he would face mandatory life in prison if convicted.