Bail denied for Chicago man in Lombard armed robbery, shooting left 1 suspect dead and officer injured
A Chicago man was ordered held without bail Saturday morning for his alleged involvement in an armed robbery that led to the death of his accomplice and a gunshot wound to a responding officer, DuPage County officials said.
Anthony Brown, 31, of Chicago, appeared before Judge James Orel who denied bail during a hearing in the DuPage County Courthouse, according to a statement from DuPage County authorities.
Brown, charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm at an officer and one count of armed robbery, is accused of robbing a tobacco store in Lombard which led to a shootout between Brown and his accomplice, Pierre Thompson, and Lombard police officers who responded to the robbery, according to the statement.
Thompson was shot during the gunfire exchange and taken to an area hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Officials have not released his age.
The attack began Thursday around 4 p.m. when Lombard police officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at Pipes & Tobacco Smoke Shop, 54 W. Roosevelt Rd., and found Brown and Thompson running from the store, according to the statement.
An investigation revealed Brown and Thompson, both wearing masks, entered the store, displayed a handgun and ordered an employee to open the cash register. After taking money from the cash register, Brown and Thompson allegedly brought the employee to the back of the store where they found the owner of the store, and they ordered the men to get on the floor, according to the statement.
At some point, the owner of the store was hit on the head with the gun. Brown and Thompson then allegedly stole the men’s wallets, cellphones and about $600 from a file cabinet in the back of the store before fleeing.
As two officers started getting out of their car, Thompson allegedly approached the officers and began shooting at them with a gun that had been modified with a switch to enable it to fire as a fully automatic weapon. The officer was then shot in the leg but returned fire, hitting Thompson, according to the statement.
The 33-year-old Lombard officer, a six-year veteran of the force, was taken to an area hospital and underwent surgery late Thursday. His condition has stabilized and he was recovering from his injury.
Brown was taken into custody by Lombard police within seconds of the shooting. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 27 for arraignment in front of Judge John Kinsella. If found guilty, he faces between 41 to 125 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
“We as a society must never normalize or accept the type of violent behavior alleged in this case,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “We should be outraged at allegations such as these, that two masked men robbed a business at gunpoint and then, without provocation or even a warning from officers, opened fire on the police officers,” Berlin said in the statement.
The officer has a “long road ahead of him and we wish him the best and thank him for his service,” Berlin said in the statement.
The shooting is under investigation by the DuPage County Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigative Team’s Public Integrity Unit.
