Four men accused of stealing $4,200 worth of alcohol from Bloomingdale liquor store

A motion to deny pretrial release for four Chicago residents accused of stealing more than $4,200 worth of alcohol from a Bloomingdale liquor store and leading police on a high-speed chase was granted Jan. 17 in DuPage County Court.

Three of the men, ages 27, 28 and 31, are charged with burglary, retail theft and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a police officer. The other man is charged with one count of aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer and multiple misdemeanor and petty traffic offenses including reckless driving, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

About 9 p.m. Jan. 16, Bloomingdale police received an alert regarding a retail theft at Pik N Go Liquor, 276 Glen Ellyn Road. When a Bloomingdale police officer responded, he saw a sedan allegedly occupied by the four defendants leaving the scene.

Police pursued the vehicle, which drove to southbound Interstate 355, where it sped away from the officer. As other marked squad cars joined the pursuit, the offenders’ car allegedly reached speeds in excess of 120 mph, according to the release.

The pursuit ended when Oak Brook police deployed spike strips, which successfully stopped the vehicle. When the pursuit ended, three of the men fled on foot, only to be arrested a short time later. The fourth man remained in the vehicle. When searching the vehicle, police found more than 50 bottles of liquor worth about $4,295, according to the release.

“The allegations that [the offenders] entered a local business, helped themselves to more than $4,000 worth of merchandise and then fled the scene without paying are outrageous,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “What I find particularly disturbing in this case is the allegation that [the individual] who was driving the getaway car then led police on a high-speed chase on a major expressway under winter road conditions, putting countless innocent motorists at great risk. Thankfully, no innocent motorists or pedestrians were injured or worse.”

The next court appearance for all four defendants is scheduled for Feb. 13.