published: 1/27/2011 12:01 AM
Subway sandwich clerk fought ‘violent criminal'
By Madhu Krishnamurthy Ashok Selvam
After fighting off a thief described by Des Plaines police as a violent criminal, Subway sandwich store clerk Jose Santiago of Palatine said he didn't feel like a hero.
The thief, who then hijacked a Rosemont taxicab, led police on an hourlong chase early Wednesday morning through numerous Northern suburbs ending in a crash in Chicago with a school bus. The man was captured shortly afterward, and charges are expected soon, authorities said.
Santiago, 34, said he wasn't thinking of his wife and four kids early Wednesday morning when he fought back the robber who punched him in the face. In fact, he wasn't thinking anything at all.
“I was angry (at being pushed). I only tried to defend myself,” Santiago, a native of Mexico, said through a translator.
He said that he used the boxing training he had in school to tussle with the larger man, who weighed about 250 pounds.
The store surveillance video shows both men throwing and landing punches before Santiago grabs a knife used to slice bread and attempts to stab the robber in the stomach. Police said the thief escaped unharmed, though his coat may have been sliced in the altercation.
“He's a brave kid, no doubt,” said the store's owner, Tim Ryan.
Des Plaines Police Chief Jim Prandini said the suspect has been arrested 27 times. “He's a person that shouldn't be walking the streets,” Prandini said.
Officials said the Chicago man entered a taxi about 5:30 a.m. near the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont and instructed the driver, Ilias Papaioannou, 65, to take him to a Subway restaurant.
The driver, who has been with Rosemont Elite Taxi for more than 20 years, initially took the man to the Subway near Touhy Avenue and Mannheim Road in Rosemont. The man went inside, came out and returned to the cab. He then instructed the driver to then take him to the Subway on the 2000 block of Miner Street in Des Plaines, police said.
The man told the driver to wait as he entered the store, which is open 24 hours.
Subway surveillance video shows the man approaching Santiago, who was 10 minutes from the end of his graveyard shift. He places a dollar on the counter and requests a cookie.
As Santiago returns with a cookie, the robber forces his way through the employee door, steps behind the counter and tries to get into the store's cash register. Santiago confronts the thief and exchanges blows with him.
Prandini doesn't recommend Santiago's course of action. “We certainly don't encourage clerks or potential victims of robberies to offer any kind of resistance at all. It's not worth the few dollars of cash,” he said.
The store has never been robbed, and owner Ryan said he wished his employee would have just given the money to the suspect, but was proud of Santiago's actions. Ryan said Santiago is a hero, and jokingly added that he certainly earned employee of the month.
“I commend him for defending himself and sticking up for himself,” Ryan said. “It's a shame these thugs come in and think they can terrorize people.”
The offender ran out of the store with Santiago chasing him. The offender punched Papaioannou, the waiting taxi driver, stole the keys to the cab, and took off, police said. The driver, who appeared to have a nose injury, declined to comment Wednesday afternoon at the Des Plaines police station.
A description of the cab and the license plate was dispatched to surrounding agencies, and officers from Morton Grove saw the cab driving east on Golf Road about 5:50 a.m., officials said.
The hourlong chase, which went through Evanston, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie, ended with a crash at Clark Street and Columbia Avenue in Chicago when the speeding minivan cab was clipped by a school bus at 6:56 a.m. and spun into a light pole. No students were aboard the bus.
After the crash, the man tried to run but was quickly chased down and tackled by Chicago police officers. The chase was captured by television news helicopters. The cab was totaled in the accident.
Police took the man, who is in his early 40s, to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston as a precaution, Prandini said.
The offender still has not been charged, Des Plaines police officials said Thursday morning. He remains hospitalized with a broken pelvis that was injured in the crash.
“We're very happy that the outcome did not result in any serious injuries to anybody in the public,” he said.
Prandini said the suspect's 25-page criminal history includes charges for vehicular hijacking and aggravated battery. He's also been convicted on robbery, burglary and drug-related charges, Prandini said. He was last arrested in August for a probation violation.
Papaioannou, whose son is a Chicago police officer, was not seriously injured and declined medical treatment, said Alice Catalano, spokeswoman for the cab company owned by her husband and brother-in-law. “Our driver is OK,” she said.
Fred Elias, another driver with Rosemont Elite Taxi and a friend of Papaioannou, said drivers are used to the risks involved in the job. “We are professional and very careful always. We pay a lot of attention and are cautious,” Elias said.
“It's a very dangerous job,” Catalano said, “and I just want to say thank you to the police department, particularly everyone involved to keep our guys safe.”
Ÿ Daily Herald staff writers Lee Filas and Bill Zars contributed to this report.
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