Police Catch Alleged 'Butcher Bandit'

More than a dozen police officers – on bicycles, on foot or in squad cars – chased a 16-year-old Skokie resident with a butcher knife through Old Orchard Mall and the surrounding neighborhood.

Police responded to a call about 7:30 p.m. Friday that a black teenager with a butcher knife was threatening to harm another teen inside the food court at the shopping center. The suspect was with two other individuals.

When the three teens realized that Skokie and mall police were closing in on them, they fled. One of the youths was arrested at Edens Bank near the mall, and a second was also caught nearby. The teen with the knife – whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile – was the last one caught after he broke through police perimeters around the mall.

Both police dogs and officers could be heard over the police scanner chasing the armed suspect.  According to the scanner chatter, the elusive teen headed north toward Old Orchard Road, where he crossed the street and entered a residential neighborhood on Bronx Avenue. Police chasing the teen said they found the butcher knife near the 10000 block of Bronx Avenue, where the suspect was later arrested.

Barbara Schuster was outside her home when the police made the arrest and said a "half dozen police officers with dogs showed up and arrested" the fugitive.

"He hopped over my backyard fence," she said. "And that's at least 6 feet high."

Her neighbor, John Jiang, said he also saw the suspect jump the fence.

"The officers did good," Jiang said. "They also jumped the fence and they got him."

Stayed tuned for more information in the coming days.