Will County sheriff’s detective honored for stopping attempted robberies

Will County Sheriff’s Detective Shaun Moran has been honored with the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Meritorious Service Award for stopping attempted robberies of a neighbor and a local business while he was off duty in Frankfort Township.

On July 23, Moran arrived home with his family and saw two hooded, masked men approaching his neighbor, who was getting groceries out of his car, according to a news release from the Fraternal Order of Police.

Moran didn’t want to get his family involved in a confrontation, so he honked his car horn to scare off the masked men, who then fled the area, FOP officials said. Moran contacted the Will County Sheriff’s Office about the incident, and he gathered evidence from the scene.

Moran saw the suspects’ vehicle again as it drove through the area, and he followed it to a Speedway gas station that had been robbed, FOP officials said. Moran contacted deputies to respond to the scene.

When police arrived, the suspects rammed Moran’s vehicle and tried to flee but eventually were arrested after a brief chase, FOP officials said.

In a statement, Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood said Moran didn’t care whether he was either on or off duty when he saw “fellow citizens in danger, and he stepped in to stop potentially dangerous crimes from happening.”

“Citizens are safe and perpetrators were arrested as a result of Detective Moran’s decisive actions,” Southwood said.