Chicago man charged with robbing 7-Eleven in Riverside

A Chicago man was arrested in connection with a strong-arm robbery of a 7-Eleven store Saturday evening in west suburban Riverside.

Riverside Police responded about 5 p.m. to reports of a robbery at the 7-Eleven located at 2600 Harlem in which several hundred dollars was taken, according to Riverside Police.

Early Sunday, Isaiah J. Johnson, 26, of the 7300 block of South Halsted, confessed to the robbery and was charged with one felony count of robbery, police said.

Johnson told police that he entered the 7-Eleven, brought some items to the cashier and reached over the counter to take money from the cash register. The store clerk confronted him and the two fought before Johnson took the cash, some food and left eastbound in his light blue Buick, police said.

The store clerk took a photo of the vehicle and it’s license plate, which police used to track Johnson to a home in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said.

Riverside detectives and Chicago Police officers staked out the home, where a man who said he was Johnson’s brother came outside and told police he was not home.

Officers spotted the blue car in an alley across the street and were preparing to have it towed to the Riverside Police Department when they saw a man, fitting the description the store clerk gave, leaving from the back door of the building, police said.

Police caught the man about 2 a.m. and took him to the Riverside Police Department where he was identified in a photo lineup and confessed to the robbery.

Johnson also told police that when he entered the store, he put a pen at the bottom of the door to keep it from closing completely. Police found the pen at the scene with his fingerprints on it, police said.

No one was injured in the robbery.

Johnson was being held at the Cook County Jail on a no bond release.

His criminal history includes charges of of retail theft, aggravated assault with a weapon, simple assault, drugs, criminal trespass and battery, police said.

He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.