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Robber caught after chase through St. James

An aggravated robbery at Papa John’s Saturday night ended with an arrest after a foot chase through the St. James Apartment Complex.

Employees at Papa John’s on Bourland Ave. called authorities around 1 a.m. to report the robbery. It was reported it as an armed robbery because the suspect alluded to having a weapon, but it was later determined that he was unarmed.

The suspect, a male non-student, fled into the St. James Complex. When he was approached by a Bradley University police officer, the suspect ran until he was caught at the dead end of the 900 block of Bradley Ave.

Two BUPD officers, a Peoria police officer and a county deputy arrived at the scene and placed the suspect in handcuffs.

The suspect was positively identified as the robbery suspect. He was then transported to the Peoria County Jail. The robbery has been determined to be an aggravated robbery because, though no weapon was found, a weapon was implied.

There was no warning alert sent out to campus because the suspect was caught quickly, BUPD Police Chief Brian Joschko said.

“The suspect was apprehended and therefore there was no continuing threat to campus,” he said,

BUPD officer Matthew Gama was the first officer to reach the suspect during the chase.

“When the call came out, I was at Fredonia Ave. and Institute Ave.,” he said. “I went down…Bradley Ave. to University St., and I went straight to the complex. When the suspect saw me, he took off running. It all happened within seconds.”

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