Plainfield Men Robbed Same Restaurant Twice: Police

By Karen Sorensen:

Two Plainfield men who allegedly returned Thursday to hold up the same Joliet Subway restaurant they robbed Tuesday night have been arrested by Joliet police, Police Chief Brian Benton said.

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Investigators believe the pair -- Robert Johansen, 45, and Matthew Seidel, 27, both of 23110 W. Colerain -- also robbed the Ultimate Exposure Tanning Center, 2828 Plainfield Road, on Sept. 30, Benton said.

Detectives working on the tanning salon case were in the area when they heard the  radio call about the Subway at 2892 Plainfield Road, near the Louis Joliet Mall, being robbed around noon Thursday, he said. 

Armed with a description of the suspects and the black truck they were driving, they were able to stop Johansen and Seidel in the 2300 block of Plainfield Road and take them into custody, the chief said.

The pair used the same approach in each robbery, implying they had a weapon but not displaying one and making their getaway in a dark vehicle, Benton said. The men also provided information during interviews that gave police probable cause to charge them with robbery in the three cases, he said.

In the Tuesday case, one of the men entered the Subway just before it closed at 9 p.m. and demanded the lone male clerk turn over the register cash, reports said. He then fled into a waiting dark car.

The clerk was unable to provide a good description of the hold-up man or the getaway vehicle, reports said, and the discrepancy between the suspect being white and the employee's description that he was black has not been explained.

Johansen and Seidel are being held in the Will County jail pending a Friday bond hearing. Seidel also provided a second address of 15W656 75th St. in Burr Ridge.