Eight masked offenders robbed the Peotone Travel Center early Sept. 3, damaging six poker machines and stealing an unknown amount of cash before fleeing in two unregistered Acuras, police said.
The robbery occurred at approximately 4:58 a.m. Five offenders armed with sledgehammers entered the business and damaged the machines while two guarded the entrance and one served as a lookout near Wilmington-Peotone Road. The group was inside for less than three minutes.
Police arrived shortly after the offenders left. No one was injured, and no customers were in the business at the time.
The vehicles — one white Acura and one gray Acura — displayed no registration plates. Peotone police are reviewing surveillance footage and other evidence.
“We know exactly where our officers were when this call was received and exactly how quickly they responded,” a department statement said. “Those specific details will not be released publicly, as there is no reason to provide offenders with information that could assist them in committing future crimes.”
Anyone who saw either Acura without plates or suspicious activity in the area around 4:58 a.m. is asked to contact Peotone Police.
This was the latest in a series of Will County break-ins by robbers targeting gaming machines in businesses that were closed. Similar gangs have broken into gaming machines across the south suburbs.
Monee Police responded to Thorntons, 25451 S. Ridgeland Avenue, for a burglary call at 2:52 a.m. on August 28. In this incident, the business was open, with employees and customers present during the robbery. Those robbers escaped after fleeing into Peotone and pulling through the Peotone Travel Center parking lot.
On Aug. 31, the JBD White Horse Inn, 348 W. Maple St. In New Lenox, was hit by a gang of robbers who smashed gaming machines and stole the money boxes.
On Sept. 1, seven or eight robbers using sledgehammers and crowbars were caught on a surveillance camera smashing video gaming machines inside Tony’s Villa Rosa pizzeria at 7717 W. St. Francis Road in unincorporated Frankfort Square.