A next-door neighbor got home early from work and noticed two strangers ringing the doorbell. He went into his house, heard some noises and observed the intruders trying to force open the back door with a crowbar.
He attempted to chase down the thugs, and his yells of “Get him! Get the plate!” caught the attention of a young male neighbor, who ran up to the getaway vehicle, a light blue minivan with an Illinois license plate, which was parked several hundred yards up the block at 60th Drive and Mount Olivet Crescent.
“They skidded out around the corner with a screech and I knew they were already gone,” said the young man, “so I focused on the plate only, repeating the numbers over and over to myself.”
It turns out several of the middle digits were incorrect, but his description helped police quickly track down the speeding vehicle, which crashed into several parked cars on the other side of the cemetery, on a residential stretch of 69th Street and Caldwell Avenue. The suspects took off on foot and a frantic pursuit followed, with helicopters searching from above. As of press time, the suspects had not been caught.
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