Dolton man charged with string of Hammond armed robberies

A south suburban man already in custody for robberies in Lansing has been charged with multiple armed robberies since December at Subway and Dunkin Donuts locations in northwest Indiana.

Jamal Marco White, 26, has been charged with five felony counts of armed robbery and one felony count of attempted armed robbery, according to a criminal information filed in the Superior Court of Lake County, Indiana.

White is accused of robbing the Subway restaurant at 4538 Calumet Ave. in Hammond several times, according to court records. In the first robbery on Dec. 20, 2015, he entered the restaurant while wearing a hooded sweatshirt covering the upper part of his face. He placed a plastic bag on the counter, pointed a black handgun at an employee and demanded money.

He robbed the same Subway again on Dec. 22, 2015, and on Jan. 20 and April 30, 2016, prosecutors said. He also robbed another Subway at 7518 Calumet Avenue in Hammond on Jan. 30.

White also attempted to rob a Dunkin Donuts at 7306 Calumet Ave. in Hammond on March 12, according to prosecutors. He entered the store wearing a hoodie, a dark-colored vest and a face mask, approached the front counter and pointed a black handgun at an employee while demanding money. The employee then pushed another employee to the back of the store and turned around to see the robber leaving without taking any money.

He later returned to rob that same Dunkin Donuts at gunpoint on May 14, court records state.

Hammond police were contacted on May 16 and notified that White, who lives in Dolton, had been arrested in Illinois for a series of robberies and had admitted to robbing a Subway in Hammond, prosecutors said. He told investigators he had committed multiple robberies using a black BB gun that looks like a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in order to support his heroin addiction.

Charges against White for the Hammond robberies were approved Tuesday, according to court documents.

White was previously charged with robbing Dunkin Donuts and Subway locations in south suburban Lansing and has been held without bail at the Cook County Jail since his arrest during another robbery in Oak Forest May 15, authorities said. His next court date was scheduled for Sept. 22.