Bandits Rob Illinois Train Old West(side) Style

On Friday afternoon in the west side town of Austin a group of bandits swarmed a Union Pacific train while it was stopped on the tracks waiting at an interchange and looted the contents of a container.

The marauders pounced on the cargo containers prying them open and removing the goods inside including boxes of flat screen tv’s, appliances and more and hustled them to awaiting vehicles that sped off.

There were some thirty individuals who were involved with the theft but just six of the robbers were arrested and only two have been charged with theft of property and in one case felony drug possession.

Surprisingly train robberies are on the rise. Most occur in California, but Chicago is one of the cities (including Memphis, Dallas and Atlanta) where they are happening more frequently.

Train robberies of the old west have been immortalized in movies and books, but what has been taking place over the last few years is being done with large numbers of people and brute force in opportunistic situations. They are prepared, in position and are coordinated.

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What isn’t clear is if the raiders are aware of what specific containers are carrying and are targeting those accordingly, or if it’s chance that electronics and appliances are found inside.

Police did recover some of the stolen goods after they arrived on the scene, but some of it was for sale online and on the street within an hour of the heist.