A frightening robbery of a suburban couple at gunpoint this week was captured on Ring doorbell footage, with the victims now speaking out on the harrowing experience.
The footage shows the couple approaching the front door of their Glenview home when a group of men suddenly approach from behind with guns drawn.
Watch the footage below
“Take it. Take it. Take everything,” the man can be heard telling the gunmen as the couple hands over jackets, a purse, wallets and more.
Gregory Poulos said the incident unfolded as he and his wife returned home from dinner in Chicago.
“We had a beautiful dinner downtown and, you know, left the dinner and came home and very uneventful on the way home,” Poulos told NBC Chicago. “Just pulled into the driveway and when we pulled into the driveway, we just got out and started walking towards our front door as we do, you know, a thousand times before.”
“And a car pulled up on the other side of the street,” he continued. “At first we thought it could be one of our friends, you know, our son’s friends, but as soon as we saw the doors open and three men rushing at us, guns drawn, we knew something was very, very, you know, different this time. And they immediately were saying things like, ‘Give us everything you have.'”
“[One gunman] was like, ‘Throw, give me everything.’ So I just started throwing stuff at him, whatever I had, including shoes,” Angie Beltsos Poulos said.
In a moment not captured on the Ring camera, Poulos said the couple were forced onto the ground.
“At that moment, you know, you don’t know what’s next, but at least, you know – because we were lying down, the motion stopped so the video isn’t showing – but at least we knew they were leaving,” he said.
Poulos credited his training as a nuclear reactor operator on a submarine with helping him maintain a calm demeanor throughout the encounter.
“We complied. That’s, I’ll say, how I was trained is give them what they want, you know, try to, you know, keep the situation from escalating and give them what they want and hopefully they leave — and there really was no other alternative, frankly,” Poulos said.
“Living on a submarine, you learn how to deal with pressure and emergency situations, so you stay calm. And that’s what I do. Inside I was absolutely not calm and I was not … I was, of course, terrified inside, but, you know, on the outside, you have to display while they’re in charge, of course, having a gun in their hand, you have to also sort of try to take over the situation. And I just continued to say, ‘You’re getting what you want. I’m giving you all… you’re getting all the things you want.’ That way, at least in their mind, they felt like they were getting exactly what they wanted and and not escalating the situation.”
The incident occurred just after 10 p.m. Monday in the 1700 block of Bluestem Lane in Glenview subdivision The Glen. According to police, the man and woman were approached by three male suspects who displayed handguns and demanded their personal property.
The victims complied, and the three suspects then fled in a Jaguar SUV, police said.
Neither of the victims were injured during the encounter, police said. The Jaguar was later located, unoccupied, miles away, in the 4300 block of Federal Street in Chicago.
According to police, the victims described the suspects as males, wearing black face coverings and dark clothing.
The couple said they lost several items in the robbery, including a ring gifted to Poulos by his grandfather. They said they hope their story raises awareness for others to be aware of your surroundings.
“This isn’t appropriate anywhere. It’s not good in the South Side, the North Side, the North Shore. We are blessed that we live in a very nice community, and yet, you don’t expect someone to bring guns to your face while you’re walking into your home,” Beltsos Poulos said. “And it’s like it just feels extra kind of like violating. That’s your yard. You’re not in a street or in an outside place. You’re right in your front yard. Literally.”
Police asked anyone with information about the incident are being asked to contact the Glenview Police Tip Line at (847) 901-6055.
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