NEWS RELEASE

RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT 31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546

21 January 2014
Contact:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

708.447.2127

Chief Tom Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us

Riverside Police Clear 2013 Attempted Strong-Arm Robbery as Unfounded

Three-month long investigation reveals numerous inconsistencies Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel announced on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 that the attempted strong-arm robbery which was reported to Riverside Police on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. did not take place as reported. After a three-month long investigation by the Riverside Police Departments detective, this case has been classified as unfounded. Police came to this conclusion through witness follow-up investigations, video surveillance, additional victims statements and information relative to the case that was obtained by the Riverside Police Department with the assistance of the Chicago Police Department. It was determined through investigation that the victim, a 19-year-old female from Chicago had, in fact, gotten off the bus on First Avenue about 15 minutes prior to the call. The victim was on her way to the North Riverside Village Hall to appear on a retail theft citation which she had been cited for earlier in the year. Riverside Police also learned that the victim had actually been the victim of a robbery that had took place in Chicago earlier in 2013. It is believed that the victim became frightened when a male subject approached her on 31st and Des Plaines and may have only been asking for directions. Officers working the case were able to obtain video surveillance from area businesses and that video did not match up with the allegations made by the victim. Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, There was some type of conversation that took place between the victim and an unknown male. The evidence we have thus far does not collaborate the fact that an attempted strong-arm street robbery took place. The victim in this case is not being charged with filing a false police report because some type of disturbance/conversation actually did take place. It is believed that the victim was sensitive to being approached by a male due to the fact that she was the victim of an actual robbery that had taken place in Chicago in which the circumstances were similar to the alleged attempted strong-arm robbery in Riverside. Police were unable to find any black Lincoln Navigator in any of the video surveillance that was recovered which was the vehicle that was described in the original attempted strong-arm robbery. The victim had also been running late for her adjudication date at the North Riverside Village Hall.