Busted: Hair Salon Bandit Charged with 11 Counts of Robbery

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved 11 counts of armed robbery against an Evanston man today. The announcement was made at the Skokie Police Department at 10:30 a.m.

Jason Logsdon, 41, of the 900 block of Chicago Avenue in Evanston, was charged with 11 counts of armed robbery, all Class X felonies. Police believe Logsdon is responsible for a total of 15 robberies, but the remaining four occurred in DuPage County. That county is still continuing its investigation, police said.

WGN is reporting that Logsdon executed the robberies to support his cocaine and crack habit. The news outlet attributed the information to an unknown source.

Logsdon appeared in court earlier today but was taken away by an ambulance to a nearby hospital. It is unclear why he was transported to a hospital at this time.

How was he caught?

“At 6:18 p.m. on Feb. 4 – just over 7 hours after [the Wicker Park robbery]– Logsdon was located in the 200 block of West Lake Street in Elmhurst and was arrested at that time,” said Skokie police Cmdr. Brian Baker. “During the 41 days that this pattern has occurred, 15 armed robberies were committed in eight jurisdictions in two counties.”

A stylist at the Wicker Park Great Clips was able to get Logsdon’s plate number as well as a description of his vehicle on Feb. 4. That information was provided to numerous police agencies in the Chicagoland area.

“When the witness provided the license plate number, one [number] was off,” said Chicago Police Chief of Investigations Tom Byrne. “A police officer sat in his car and ran different variations until one popped up with the same match of vehicle."

With that information, Skokie police ran the plate number and found that Logsdon had recently been stopped for two minor traffic violations in Skokie. He was then brought into the Skokie police station where police ran numerous lineups with different victims who identified Logsdon as the robber, Baker said.

“A great response by the Chicago police department and great response by the victim who got a license plate number led Skokie police investigators [to a vehicle] that had been stopped for minor traffic violations,” Baker said. “That person had similar characteristics as the robber.”

All in all, Cook County saw 11 robberies – one in Broadview, five in Chicago, two in Niles, two in Skokie and one in Morton Grove. Logsdon also robbed a tobacco store, Baker added.

The vehicle that Logsdon used for the robberies belonged to a woman he was living with, police said. The commander added that the owner of the vehicle was “unaware" her car was being used in the robberie and is not facing any charges.

Police officials said the robber’s motivation was money, but would not reveal if the suspect had a drug problem when asked by reporters.

“That information will be revealed in court,” Baker said.

Logsdon is suspected to have robbed hair salons in Skokie, Niles, Bensenville, Lombard, Glen Ellyn, Morton Grove, Broadview and Chicago.

Logsdon’s court date has yet to be determined. No further information is available at this time. If new details come in, Patch will update.

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