1 robbery suspect arrested on bike with gunshot wound; 2nd after returning to crime scene

Mike Mason

KENOSHA COUNTY -- A manhunt for two armed robbery suspects ended Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 26 after the robbery and a pursuit late Tuesday. One of the suspects was shot by a resident, and the other returned to the scene of the crime.

"Why he came back here to the scene of the crime -- I have no idea," said Mike Mason, AAA Tent Masters.

The first suspect was arrested around 7 a.m. The second suspect was apprehended shortly before noon. Both are from Illinois.

Mason said the second suspect asked to use the phone.

"He was suspicious right from the get-go," said Mason.

AAA Tent Masters

It all began around 10:18 p.m. after officers were dispatched to Willkomm's Mobil on Washington Avenue in Mount Pleasant for an armed robbery. No shots were fired during the robbery.  The suspects fled westbound on Washington Avenue in a red Chevrolet pickup truck.

Willkomm's Mobil

Officers quickly located the vehicle as it was entering I-94 southbound. It was determined to have been stolen out of Aroma Park, Illinois.

As officers attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled at a high rate of speed.  With the assistance of the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department, spike strips were deployed, and the suspect vehicle's passenger side tire hit the strips. The vehicle continued southbound and was soon traveling on the rim.

The vehicle exited the interstate westbound onto County Highway C/ Wilmot Road.  The pursuit continued at slower speeds until the fleeing vehicle turned into the AAA Tent Master business and was attempting to turn around in the lawn and possibly head back to the interstate.  At that time, a Mount Pleasant police officer in his marked squad struck the suspect vehicle into a tree line to end the pursuit.

The occupants of the vehicle then fled on foot into a wooded area.

Tom Jackson

"I could hear noises outside my house. The sheriff's department was knocking on the front door -- shining flashlights in the house. In this day and age, you are not safe from it," said Tom Jackson, neighbor.

A perimeter was established by the Kenosha Sheriffs Department, Pleasant Prairie Police Department, Racine County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin State Patrol.  K-9 officers were utilized in an attempt to track the suspects.

At approximately 3:45 a.m., a Bristol resident called reporting that a suspect had attempted to gain entry into his home on Wilmot Road. The resident armed himself with a handgun and fired shots at the suspect, who ran away.

"I did hear four to five shots, and that's when my neighbor was trying to confront the guy," said Jackson.

At 7:40 a.m., a man was spotted riding a bicycle on I-94 and was taken into custody for an arrest warrant out of Illinois.  This person told the arresting deputy that he had been shot. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment.

At 11:52 a.m. the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department apprehended the second suspect -- when he returned to the AAA Tent Master business and asked to use the telephone.

"We let him into the office. We kind of distracted him. We kinda were on each entrance, just in case he decided to bolt. We did what we had to do," said Mason.

At least one of the suspects was wanted in connection with a homicide in Illinois.