Two Suspects Sought in Chester Moto Robbery
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The Chester Police Department this morning asked for the public's help in identifying two suspects caught on tape during a robbery of the Chester MotoMart Saturday afternoon.
The robbery follows a Friday holdup of the Dubois branch of the Farmers & Merchants Bank. Authorities said late Monday there are still no suspects in that robbery.
Video tape from both robberies clearly show the robbery suspects are not the same.
Police say that at approximately 2:45 p.m. Friday, two men entered the Moto Mart convenience store in Chester and stole a large sum of money.
According to witnesses and the video surveillance footage, it appears that one of the suspects (pictured in right photo above) distracted the store clerks while the other (pictured at left above) snuck into the back where the large sum of money was located.
The Chester Police Department has not positively identified either of the suspects at this time. The Police Department is asking for your help. Police have released still frames from the surveillance footage and clips of the actual surveillance footage itself for view.
"I feel we stand to benefit by being transparent with the public and asking for the public's help in identifying these two individuals," Chester Chief of Police Michael Coffey told the newspaper.
"Many times releasing too much information can compromise an investigation, but in this case I feel the public can help by making available a large portion of the details in this case. Police are not releasing the dollar amount lost at this time, only to say that it is a substantial amount," he said.
Anyone interested in viewing additional footage with a higher quality resolution should go to www.chesterill.com. Click on "City Departments" and then on "Chester Police Department". Click on "Moto Mart Theft". If, after viewing, you feel you have information to share, please call the Chester Police Department at (618)826-5454, or you can e-mail the Chief directly from that same site by clicking on the Chief's name, located under his picture.