Two Gary men, ages 18 and 35, face felony armed robbery, criminal confinement and theft charges in a hold-up at a Radio Shack on Calumet Avenue in Munster October 15^th and Munster Police today said a third male subject, believed to be between 17 and 19 years old remains unidentified. Police say a search at the home of one of the suspects recovered several items stolen in the Munster crime along with items stolen from similar Radio Shack robberies in Griffith, Michigan City, and Lansing, Illinois.

News Release from Munster Police:

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

[Javonte Colbert, Antoine Gates, photos from Munster Police]

On November 1st, 2012, the Lake County Prosecutors Office filed criminal charges on two subjects in connection with the armed robbery of the Radio Shack located at 7967 Calumet Avenue in Munster, Indiana, on Monday, October 15th, 2012.

Antoine Gates, age 35, of Gary, Indiana, and Javonte Colbert, age 18, of Gary, Indiana were each charged with two counts of armed robbery (Class B Felony), two counts of criminal confinement (Class B Felony) and two counts of theft (Class D Felony).  A third subject identified as a black male between 17 and 19 years old remains unidentified.

Gates and Colbert, along with an unidentified third person, are alleged to have entered the Radio Shack store at about 8 PM on Monday, October 15th, 2012.  After spending a few minutes perusing the merchandise in the store Colbert is alleged to have pointed a handgun at the two employees and ordered them to the back store room where they were bound with duct tape.  Gates and Colbert then proceeded to take currency from the cash register along with several cellular phones and other electronic devices before fleeing the store.

A surveillance video camera recorded the suspect’s vehicle leaving the business area shortly after the robbery.  This recording led police investigators to Gates residence in the 700 block of Hanley Street in Gary where a search warrant was later executed and several of the items stolen in the Munster robbery along with items stolen from similar Radio Shack robberies in Griffith (Indiana), Michigan City (Indiana) and Lansing (Illinois) were recovered.

Gates and Colbert are both in custody in the Lake County Jail and each is being held on an $8,000 cash bond. ($80,000 Surety Bond)

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