Suspects face felony theft charges following staged incident at Shell
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
What started as a community stunned about the news of an abduction at a local gas station turned out to be a hoax plotted by two persons who hoped to get away with a robbery.
On Tuesday, September 22, the Independent received a communiqué time stamped at 7:39 a.m. from Elmhurst Police Chief Michael Ruth, stating that an investigation was underway regarding a possible overnight robbery at the Shell gas station located at 654 W. North Avenue in Elmhurst at about 5 a.m. that morning. Police were summoned to check on the well-being of a clerk, who was not at the gas station when she should have been. Upon arrival, police were unable to locate the employee but they were able to obtain the surveillance video to determine what happened.
Later that same day, another memo came from the police department time stamped 3:20 p.m., submitted by Deputy Chief James Kveton stating that police were concerned for the well-being of Simone Boyd, 21, whom had still not been located.
The following morning at about 6 a.m., Chief Ruth issued another release saying Boyd and an accomplice had been located and arrested at about 5 a.m. The release said that in the early morning hours of September 22, Boyd had been working overnight at the Shell station when her boyfriend Brandon Morris staged what appeared to be a robbery, which could be seen on store video, according to Ruth. Morris jumped over the counter to remove money from the register, then he and Boyd were seen leaving the store together on the surveillance video, which led police to believe the incident was not only a robbery but also an abduction.
Both subjects were later located in Cook County, where all the stolen proceeds were recovered. Simone Boyd, 21, of Lombard, and Brandon Morris, 21, of Melrose Park, stand accused of staging a robbery and abduction. Both were charged with Felony Theft and taken to DuPage County Jail. Late Friday, the Independent learned that bond had been set at $10,000.
