Police arrested two Illinois men after they broke into a Greenwood department store and attempted to steal computers valued at $44,000.
Rodney Keith Hollis, 45, was arrested on felony burglary and theft charges and misdemeanors for resisting law enforcement and criminal mischief. Lance Brown, 35, was arrested on a felony burglary charge.
Both men told police they are from the suburbs of Chicago, had never met one another before and were taking part in an organized burglary, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
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About 3 a.m. Thursday, the men pried open the back door of the Best Buy located near the Greenwood Park Mall and wheeled a large trashcan inside, according to the report.
Employees inside the store heard the commotion and called 911, according to the report. Police arrived and arrested Brown who was standing out back by a van that was reported stolen out of Lansing, Ill.
When Hollis started out the backdoor with the trashcan full of Apple MacBook computers, he saw police and ran. Police captured him in the front parking lot, the report said.
Both were taken to the Johnson County jail where they were interviewed by detectives. Both men told police someone else had encouraged them to burglarize the store to make some extra money, and both admitted they were desperate, the report said.
Hollis, of Harvey, Ill., is being held at the jail on $13,400 bond. Brown, of Dolton, Ill., is being held on $3,300 bond.
