Madison St. Shell robbed early Monday

This morning's Northwest Herald reported that the Shell gas station and convenience store at 315 North Madison Street, Woodstock, was robbed early yesterday (Monday). Police did not release information about the amount of money taken by the lone robber.

The clerk did the right thing - just handed over the dough. And the clerk did a good job of providing a description of the robber and the getaway vehicle. Probably some extra security on the night shift at this store will be a good idea for a while; like, maybe, somebody sitting there with a shotgun...

The robber? Male, 20-30 years of age, dark complexion, about 6'2", 200-230 lbs. Wearing dark-colored jacket and jeans. Wearing a mask. No guess at the race of the suspect.

What kind of handgun was displayed? Semi-automatic? Revolver? Dark metal or light?

Vehicle? "older, dark-colored vehicle with round taillights that possibly was missing a driver's side window." Vehicle was occupied and waiting.

So at least one other person was involved. That's good. When that person gets nabbed for a different crime, he might just roll over on the robber.

And maybe the driver's window was just lowered, not missing. Sedan? Two-door? Four-door? How far up Hutchins Street from the gas station was it parked?

Why I'm being picky about the media, I'll pick on the word "offender" in the article. How about using "robber" or "criminal"?

And the police request for information about the "incident"? Oh, you mean the "crime" or "armed robbery".

Let's stop soft-peddling what's really going on in Woodstock. Maybe people will start getting mad and doing something about it!