Autolycus
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http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsindex/18-ds1.htm
I stopped at that gas station 2 nights ago on my way to the movies!
Trip to gas station for Tylenol turned into a nightmare for Oak Forest family
Friday, August 18, 2006
By Kristen Schorsch
Staff writer
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George Sayegh left his home shortly before midnight Tuesday to get Tylenol for one of his daughters, who had a headache.
It was a trip he never will forget.
As he returned home minutes later, Sayegh turned to close the door and found a gun stuck in his face.
"We need the safe," the gunman said.
For the next 10 minutes or so, Sayegh found himself in a nightmare that ended when his wife alertly called 911, resulting in the arrest of three ex-convicts who apparently believed they would find a lot of cash in his house.
"It's like a movie," he said. "I hope it never happens to anybody else."
Bail was set Thursday for the three intruders, all from Chicago — $200,000 for Dornell Hicks and Charles Lawson and $150,000 for Jason Thomas. Each is charged with five counts of home invasion.
The men have lengthy criminal records, including convictions for armed robbery, drug possession and hijacking vehicles, according to Cook County court records.
Sayegh, 45, told the Daily Southtown on Thursday that he went to the BP gas station at 159th Street and Central Avenue for the Tylenol and pulled a $20 bill from a wad of cash in his pocket totaling $400. He returned to his car and drove home — not noticing he was being followed.
As he entered his house in the 15400 block of David Lane, the gunman confronted him. Sayegh told the man he didn't have a safe. One of his daughters saw the commotion and screamed.
His wife and two of his five children were sleeping upstairs. Another daughter on the first floor heard the screams and came out of her room. That's when the intruders took Sayegh and three of his children to the basement, where his 81-year-old father slept, Sayegh said.
Inside his father's room, two of the men searched Sayegh, taking his money and a pack of cigarettes. A third man acted as a lookout upstairs.
"My 14-year-old daughter told (one of the men) to go buy drugs and leave us alone," Sayegh said. "I told him to take the gun out of my face. I was scared more than her."
One of the men grabbed a phone and told the oldest daughter, 17, to wrap her family's hands with the cord. The girl has bruises on her arm from when a man used a gun to push her downstairs, Sayegh said.
He said the family remained in the basement for about five minutes and then were ordered upstairs to the family room. Again, the gunmen asked for a safe. They also wanted socks.
"The only time I got scared was when they asked for socks," said Sayegh, thinking they might use socks to cover their guns before shooting. "That's nothing I heard of before."
Meanwhile, Sayegh's wife awakened, saw one of the men on the stairs, went back to her bedroom and called 911. Minutes later, the men saw flashing lights from police officers and tried to flee.
Oak Forest police caught one of the men as he ran into the back yard and a second man after he ran out the front door, police said. The third man was found hours later walking around the police station.
Police recovered a loaded revolver in bushes outside and an automatic handgun in a neighborhood garbage can, Police Chief Dennis Olszewski said.
If convicted, each man faces up to 30 years in prison, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Sorich said.
Hicks' criminal past includes a total of 45 felony charges, court records show. In 2003, Hicks, 34, was sentenced to prison for armed robbery with a firearm. He also received a six-year term in 1994 for armed robbery.
Lawson, 26, has a record that includes serving a total of 15 years for drug possession and two separate armed robberies, one of which involved a carjacking, court records show.
Thomas, 31, was sentenced in 1994 to 10 years in prison for hijacking a vehicle with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. He also was sentenced in 2001 for felony possession or use of a weapon and in 2003 for drug possession.
The men are due in court Sept. 6 for a preliminary hearing, Sorich said.
Contributing: Ben Lefebvre
Kristen Schorsch may be reached at [email protected] or (708) 633-5992.
I stopped at that gas station 2 nights ago on my way to the movies!
How the hell is it, that a man with 45 prior felonies is actually walking the streets?
