Masked Burglars Disable Alarm, Rob Gas Station

Romeoville firefighters stumbled across a burglary in progress without even realizing it early Wednesday.

Assistant Police Chief Steven Lucchesi said two men were caught on surveillance video robbing the , 1100 N. Independence Boulevard, shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The thieves, whose faces were obscured, cut a hole in the ceiling and cut the alarm lines to the building, triggering a “trouble alarm” that alerted the fire department that something was amiss.

The two men can be seen on video exiting the store just before firefighters arrived, Lucchesi said, but they didn’t stay gone for long.

After checking the alarms and resecuring the front door, the fire crew left the site, moments before the two men returned at 1:42 a.m.

“The two offenders reentered through the unlocked back door,” Lucchesi said, adding the men had planned ahead by leaving the door unlocked. The duo then emptied two cash registers and a safe, exiting the store for good at 1:55 a.m.

Lucchesi said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose how much money was stolen.

Employees who arrived at Citgo for their morning shift found the cash registers emptied, along with the safe, which was bolted to the floor. The burglars had cut open the safe to get to the money, Lucchesi said.

One robber, described as 6 feet tall with a medium build, wore a black face wrap, a green T-shirt, black long-sleeved undershirt, blue jeans, and black gloves and backpack.

The other thief is described as 5-foot-6 with a medium build, wearing a black face mask, black long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, black gloves and shoes, and a gray backpack.

According to Lucchesi, the race of the men is unknown, and the incident remains under investigation.