Two men charged with robbery that led to fatal Far South Side crash

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Isiah Stevenson (left) and Michael Cokes (right). (Will County sheriff's office)

Two men have been charged with a robbery in south suburban Tinley Park that led to a high-speed chase and crash that left two people dead and four Chicago Police officers injured Friday afternoon on the Far South Side.

Michael Cokes, 26, of Alsip; and Isiah Stevenson, 24, of Matteson, are each charged with one felony count of robbery, according to Tinley Park police.

It started just before 11 a.m. in the parking lot of an Arby’s restaurant at 191st and Harlem in Tinley Park, where the restaurant manager was robbed while leaving to make a bank deposit, according to Tinley Park Police Chief Steve Neubauer.

The suspects took off in a gold sedan, which Illinois State Police spotted on I-57 heading toward Chicago, Neubauer said.

Chicago Police joined the chase as it left the highway, and an unmarked police SUV slammed into the suspects’ car at the intersection of 124th and Union, police said.

Four Chicago Police officers in the SUV were injured. One hospitalized officer was released Saturday, and the other was released Sunday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The other two were treated at the scene.

Two people inside the car died after the crash.

Ronald Arrington, 22, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 12:39 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived near the crash site in the 12400 block of South Union. Jimmy Malone, 26, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:28 p.m., authorities said. His home address was unknown. Autopsies Saturday ruled their deaths accidental.

The two suspects who survived, Cokes and Stevenson, are each being held on $500,000 bonds at the Will County Jail.