Captured in Venezuela, Second Man Charged in Woodridge Carjacking

Two months after a fugitive ex-nuclear power plant technician was convicted in absentia of a May 2012 carjacking in Woodridge, police have arrested his former colleague in Venezuela and charged him with being an accomplice in the crime.

Landon Brittain, 31, formerly of Coal City, has been charged with vehicular hijacking, aggravated vehicular hijacking and obstruction of justice, and had bail set at $1 million in DuPage County Court on Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Enformable Nuclear News reports that Brittain was reported missing on Nov. 12, 2012, by his half sister, who told Joliet police that he had undergone a dramatic change recently and had vanished without telling his family, likely with a large amount of money.

Brittain was arrested in June by Venezuelan intelligence in Caracas, the site said, and extradited to the U.S. to face charges.

He is accused of conspiring with Michael Buhrman, 32, also of Coal City, who remains a fugitive after being convicted in May in absentia and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Prosecutors have said that on May 9, 2012, wearing a high-quality latex mask, Buhrman approached a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am parked near Kohl's, 1001 75th St. in Woodridge, being driven by one Carrie Bradley, pointed a loaded .45-caliber handgun at Bradley’s chin, demanded her car keys and sped away.

According to the Daily Herald, prosecutors have not yet said exactly what Brittain's alleged role in the carjacking was, but State's Attorney Bob Berlin did say that he has "implicated himself, and other evidence pointed to his involvement."

Authorities said during Buhrman's trial that he was inspired by Ben Affleck's heist movie "The Town" and was "thrll-seeking," and also that he tried to recruit a colleague at the Dresden nuclear power plant in Morris, Ill. to rob banks, the paper said.

Read more at the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald, the Suburban Life and the Enformable Nuclear News webstes.