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Reward offered in ‘Bad Hair Bandit’ case
Skokie Police released this surveillance image of a man suspected of committing several hair salon robberies in the area since December. | Contributed photo
Updated: January 21, 2013 5:00PM
NILES — Niles Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to a $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of a serial robber of area hair salons.
Nicknamed “the Bad Hair Bandit,” the suspect is accused of robbing two salons in Niles, two in Skokie and one in Morton Grove since late December. The same man is also suspected in robberies reported in Bensenville, Lombard, Glen Ellyn and Chicago.
In each of the robberies the man displayed a handgun and demanded cash from a salon employee. In some of the cases police indicated that he pretended to be a customer interested in purchasing items before committing the robbery.
Anyone with information on the robberies or the suspect can contact the anonymous Niles Crime Stoppers tip line at (847) 588-6533.
The local robberies were reported Dec. 27 at Hair Cuttery, 9442 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie; Dec. 28 at an unnamed salon on the 5600 block of Touhy Ave. in Niles; Jan. 3 at Great Clips, 6761 Dempster St. in Morton Grove; Jan. 10 at Supercuts, 3539 Dempster St. in Skokie; and Jan. 14 at Hair Cuttery, 8303 Golf Rd. in Niles.
Niles Police Sgt. Robert Tornabene said this week that police are keeping an eye on salons in the village.
“We’ve actively stepped up patrols, including marked and unmarked vehicles, around all the salons we can cover at any one time,” Tornabene said.
The department has also posted alerts about the robbery suspect on location-based social media sites like yelp.com and foursquare.com, he said.
“If (someone) clicks on a locality and the GPS is enabled on their cell phone, an alert should come up for the businesses around or near some of the salons,” Tornabene said.
