Elmhurst cops nab 15-year-old in armed robbery

A 15-year-old from Indiana faces charges in connection with an armed robbery late last year in Elmhurst, authorities said Friday.

Police said the case began on the evening of Nov. 27 when the victim told officers he responded to a Facebook post offering an iPhone 7 for sale.

He told police he met two people on the 100 block of E. North Avenue where one of the suspects displayed a handgun and announced a robbery. The two suspects took the victim's cash and fled in a 2006 Chevrolet van that had been reported stolen from Hammond, Indiana.

Police in South Holland recovered the van the next day and pursued several suspects who ran away.

A handgun matching the description of the one used in the Elmhurst robbery was recovered, authorities said.

Elmhurst detectives, meanwhile, served search warrants on Facebook for account information related to the ruse that wound up identifying the 15-year-old from Hammond and showed him in possession of the gun.

The youth recently was taken into custody for an unrelated weapons offense in Cook County and transferred to DuPage County. He appeared Tuesday in juvenile court, authorities said.

Police are reminding residents that online transactions requiring face-to-face meetings always can take place in the police station lobby, which provides a safe environment for such transactions and is staffed 24 hours a day.