2 teens charged in armed, robbery police chase and crash in Wilmette, officials say

WILMETTE, Ill. (WLS) -- Two teens have been charged Wednesday in connection to an armed robbery that turned into a police chase. The chase ended after the teens crashed a stolen car in north suburban Wilmette, according to police.

The video featured is from a previous report.

A 16- and a 17-year-old boy have been charged with armed robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle. The 17-year-old has also been charged with unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Wilmette police said just before 5:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 400-block of Central Avenue, two males armed with a gun robbed a 63-year-old of his car keys and cell phone before getting into a vehicle where a third male was waiting for them.

Minutes later officers located the car and attempted to stop it, but the driver fled and rolled the vehicle into a parking lot in the 1600-block of Sheridan.

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Elio Montenegro, who took cell phone video of the aftermath, lives in a building near where police said the three suspects crashed.

"We were sound asleep and around five o'clock in the morning I heard siren sounds and then this huge bang. Immediately thought that something else is up," he said. "It rolled down the ramp, another four feet and it would have plowed through the window and probably knocked down one of these pillars."

Wilmette police said as officers initially approached the suspects, one shot at them through the windshield so the officers pulled back and called for backup.

"The suspects were still inside the vehicle and the police officers were ordering them to step out," Montenegro said. "And they started coming out one by one and as they came out, again using professionalism and doing it by the book, they were taken into custody. One to an ambulance and one to squad cars."

One suspect was treated for injuries from the crash, and no other injuries were reported. Police recovered the victim's property along with two semi-automatic handguns. The vehicle the suspects had been in was reported stolen from Winnetka, police said.

Both teens have been transferred to a Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The 17-year-old was also already on an electronic monitoring device for previous robbery case, police said.

Three individuals were initially arrested, police said. The third person, who is an adult, has not been charged.