DOWNERS GROVE – Two employees were pepper-sprayed in the face and five iPhones reportedly were stolen Dec. 16 at a Best Buy in Downers Grove, according to a police report. The phones were valued at about $5,000.
The incident took place between 10 and 10:30 a.m. at the Best Buy at 1432 Butterfield Road.
Three offenders ran out of the store, entered a white Jeep Renegade and headed south on Highland Avenue before entering the eastbound ramp to I-88, the report stated.
Store employees told police that two black men entered the store when it opened and began looking around as if they were casing the store. Employees were suspicious because the two men were in the store earlier in the week looking at phones. Employees also were aware that cellphones had been stolen recently from other area Best Buy stores.
During the incident, one of the men grabbed the cellphones and unhooked them from the chargers, the report stated. An employee asked him to put the phones down and said he didn’t need to unhook them to look at them. The employee attempted to grab the phones from the suspect at which point he was pepper-sprayed in the face by the other man, according to the report. One of the men grabbed the phones, and the three offenders ran out of the store.