An employee of Ledo’s Pizza, 5525 La Grange Rd. in Countryside, hit an armed man on the head with a broom and other workers helped subdue him during an attempted robbery early Sunday morning as the restaurant was closing.

Jamie J. Shimon, 53, was charged with one count of armed robbery. He was living in the La Grange Motel, 5846 S. La Grange Rd. in Countryside, and originally is from the La Grange and Brookfield area, according to Countryside Police Chief Michael Ruth. Shimon has 17 previous convictions, including five for robbery, the police chief said.

The robbery occurred at 12:04 a.m. May 20 as the restaurant was closing down and deliveries were to continue for another half hour, he said.

A man walked in, pointed a blue steel handgun at an employee, announced a robbery and demanded money from the cashbox. An employee gave him an undetermined amount of cash.

One of the employees came in from the side, had a broom in his hand and hit the robber in the head, the chief said. The robber dropped the gun and other employees jumped on him, causing him to drop the cash, he added.  

Countryside police arrived, handcuffed him and took him to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital. He received stitches for cuts on his head and had bruised ribs. His blood also was on some of the cash he dropped in the restaurant, police said.