Suspects sought in Sycamore armored car robbery

SYCAMORE – As the search continued for the people suspected of a daylight armored car robbery Thursday, police released an image from surveillance video showing the crime as it occurred.

The image shows two men wearing ski masks. One of them is opening the door to a silver Ford Edge SUV with dark tinted windows. The other, wearing a dark shirt, light colored pants and gym shoes, is struggling to carry a container filled with money.

Police were called at 9:41 a.m. after the theft, which occurred as a Thillens armored car was parked outside Charley’s Video Gaming, 1470 S. Peace Road. The vehicle left a parking spot in the lot, which is shared by Charley’s and Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant, and left through the parking lot of the nearby Blain’s Farm & Fleet store, Sycamore police detective Joe Meeks said.

Sycamore Police Chief Jim Winters said beyond the ski masks, the robbers’ clothing was nondescript.

“It wasn’t like they were wearing a Cubs jersey or something,” Winters said.

In addition to the two who took the money, a third suspect might have driven the getaway vehicle, according to a news release from the Sycamore Police Department.

Police declined to specify how much money was taken from the truck, but it clearly was substantial. Meeks said in his 11 years with the department, he does not recall any other incident where such a large amount of money was taken.

Winters said the department won’t speculate as to how much was taken until the armored car company accounts for it. He said the truck has several stops along its route.

When police learned of the robbery, patrol cars set up a perimeter around the industrial park on Prairie Drive in Sycamore, thinking the vehicle may have gone that direction, but they did not spot the suspects, Meeks said.

Winters said there was no evidence the suspects were armed or that there was any immediate danger to residents in the area.

Investigators from several agencies were at the scene Thursday interviewing witnesses, including a pair of uniformed drivers from the armored car company.

Sycamore police will be coordinating with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, DeKalb Police Department and the FBI during the investigation.

Anyone with information about the crime should call Sycamore police at 815-895-2123, or Crime Stoppers at 815-895-3272.