Federal authorities have charged three suspects suspected of committing armed robberies in the Chicago area, including one where a gunman beat and injured a clerk during a robbery in Lake Villa.
Ricky Taylor-Alexander, Keion Feazell and Dajion Ward were charged earlier this month in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois with interference with commerce by threat or violence.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent said in a criminal complaint affidavit that the three men committed an armed robbery on February 8 in South Holland.
The three men are suspected, but not charged yet, in participating in at least eight robberies that occurred from December 17 to February 8 in Chicago, River Grove, South Holland, Elmwood Park, Lake Villa, Hickory Hills and St. Charles.
The Lake Villa armed robbery occurred around 8:30 p.m. on January 26 at Lake Villa Liquors, located at 102 South Milwaukee Avenue.
The offender had fled the scene prior to the police being called, Lake Villa Police Department Lt. James DeCaro said at the time.
Officers arrived in two minutes and discovered that a single offender entered the store armed with a handgun.
The offender demanded money from the clerk and then proceeded to strike the clerk in the head with the gun, DeCaro said.
In the affidavit, a surveillance photo showed the clerk down on the ground after being attacked.
The offender was then able to access the register and steal an undetermined amount of cash, DeCaro said.
The offender entered the passenger side of an awaiting Buick Century sedan in the parking lot and fled northbound on Route 83 from the scene.
The clerk was treated at the scene by paramedics and transported to an area hospital for an evaluation.
The fleeing vehicle was witnessed on video but the license plate attached had been reported stolen out of the area several weeks prior.
Search warrants for phone data belonging to Feazell, Ward and Taylor-Alexander linked them to many of the robberies, which “appear to be committed by the same group of offenders, based on modus operandi, commission of the robberies in the evening, clothing worn by the offenders, and the presence of a 2000 Buick Regal with a distinctive sticker and damage,” the affidavit said.
Feazell’s phone connected to a cell phone tower 0.4 miles away from Lake Villa Liquors at the same time of the robbery, the affidavit said.
The three suspects have only been charged in one armed robbery so far, court records show.