Five masked and gloved robbers armed with sledgehammers and crowbars smashed their way into six video gaming machines and a cash register at a Green Oaks gas station early Wednesday, fleeing in a black SUV that sped south on Interstate 294 while a private security guard was present. Lake County Sheriff's deputies responded to the 14000 block of West Rockland Road after reports of the robbery, marking the second time in less than a month that this exact location has been targeted.
The break-in struck the Gas N Wash at 14010 W. Rockland Road, a 24-hour gas station, convenience store and car wash where six video gaming machines were damaged. Cardinal News reported an earlier machine-damage incident at the location. As CBS Chicago reports, a private security guard hired by the gaming company was present at the business throughout the robbery as the crew broke into the machines and register.
Lake County Sheriff's Office statements described five masked offenders who went inside before leaving in a getaway SUV. The vehicle fled southbound on I-294. The sheriff's office's Criminal Investigations Division is now investigating the robbery, per the same CBS Chicago account.
A Site Already Hit Once This Summer
This was not the first trouble at the Rockland Road address. The same Gas N Wash suffered criminal damage to its video gambling machines in a separate incident on August 14, the Cardinal News reported at the time; the report did not confirm any cash theft. Lake County Sheriff's Office coverage is referenced in a general sheriff's blotter from Deerfield Patch.
Detectives from the sheriff's office are investigating the robbery.
A Statewide Wave of Machine-Smashing Burglaries
Illinois Gaming Board data cited by Hoodline's earlier reporting recorded roughly 473 burglaries at licensed video gambling locations statewide in 2025, adding up to more than $2.7 million in stolen cash. A similar gaming-machine burglary was reported in Summit, according to the Hoodline report.
The break-in illustrates that individual sites with video gaming machines can be targets for burglaries. The sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the robbery.
The video gaming industry provides the broader context for these burglaries. Some operators are weighing heavy shielding as a security upgrade or considering pulling the machines altogether.
Green Oaks isn't unfamiliar with this pattern of crime along its stretch of Rockland Road. Hoodline previously reported a burglary involving a stolen flatbed trailer and construction equipment in unincorporated Libertyville, in the 14200 block of the same road in July, and a Vernon Hills man was arrested following a separate violent break-in in the village in March. The sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division continues to investigate Wednesday's robbery.
