Trio charged in string of heists, including EC credit union robbery

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Jeremiah Stevenson. | Provided Photo~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 19, 2012 10:05AM

Three men are facing federal charges in connection with the armed robberies of an East Chicago credit union and a Merrillville store and perhaps even more thefts.

Gary residents Jeremiah Stevenson and Nathan Elmore, both 21, are accused in a probable cause affidavit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond of robbing the Tech Credit Union in East Chicago on Feb. 7.

According to court documents, two men wearing all black entered the credit union with guns and emptied the drawers themselves, taking $16,000.

An East Chicago Department police officer in the area saw two men running away from the credit union, and police recovered a bag of money near the bank at 4010 Alder St. As police chased the suspects, one of them fired a gun and pointed it at a police officer, according to the affidavit.

Security cameras show that a few days later, the two men went to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond and gambled with money that had blue dye on it.

When Stevenson was arrested Friday, he admitted they gambled with the stolen money.

East Chicago police and the Gary SWAT team raided 775 Virginia St., Elmore’s girlfriend’s residence, on Wednesday and arrested Elmore, of 3410 Virginia St. Elmore admitted his role in the robbery and about a dozen robberies in Gary, sources said.

Elmore and his accomplices are responsible for many of the Family Dollar, KFC and Subway robberies that have occurred downtown in recent months, police said.

Riverdale, Ill., resident Seandell Rounds, 20, who sources say is connected to Elmore, is facing possible federal charges in connection the armed robbery Tuesday of the Auto Zone at 61st Avenue and Broadway in Merrillville. Two men entered the store with guns and took money from a safe and the cash registers, according to the affidavit.

Rounds was arrested Thursday, along with a 17-year-old, and told police his only role was to drive the car for the defendants. The affidavit says an unnamed co-conspirator confirmed Rounds’ story.

Sources say Rounds and the juvenile are also suspected of taking part in the string of robberies of Family Dollar, KFC and Subway.

All three men are being held without bond pending a probable cause and detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to court records.

The 17-year-old was being held at the Lake County Juvenile Center pending charges.