Man charged in string of armed robberies in Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Hickory Hills

By Bob Bong

A Chicago man has been charged in a string of armed robberies that took place in Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Hickory Hills and other communities.

He was charged February 2 for the December 28 robbery of the Shell station at 12121 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Palos Heights.

Palos Heights police said they were dispatched in the early morning hours of December 28 to the Shell station for an armed robbery that had just occurred.  Video captured two masked men enter the store.  One produced a dark semi-automatic pistol while the other took money, cigarettes, and lottery tickets.

The two men left the scene in a dark colored Nissan sedan.  These same suspects were identified as committing armed robberies in Palos Hills, Hickory Hills, and multiple other Illinois and Indiana jurisdictions in the following weeks.

The Nissan sedan was located and processed for evidence after a search warrant was obtained.

Documents inside the vehicle and subsequent investigations identified one of the suspects as Sedgwick Reavers.

On February 1, Reavers was taken into custody in the 7400 block of Rhodes Avenue in Chicago.  Further search warrants were served at two addresses for Reavers and multiple pieces of evidence that tied him to the crime spree were seized.

Investigators from Hickory Hills, Palos Hills, and Palos Heights worked with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to review the cases and speak with victims.   Charges were approved against Reavers for separate incidents in all three jurisdictions.

Reavers was charged with one count of armed robbery and one count of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon for the Palos Heights’ incident and later contact.

Reavers was transported to the Bridgeview Courthouse for a bond hearing where bail was set at $2 million on each of three counts of armed robbery for the three towns.