Fox Lake man gets five years in prison for gas station robbery to feed heroin addiction
A Fox Lake man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for robbing a gas station to feed his heroin addiction.
Christopher Sparrowgrove, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery on Feb. 15 with an understanding that he would face no more than six years behind bars.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney James Newman said Sparrowgrove, of the 200 block of East Grand Avenue, entered the BP Amoco on Route 12 just before midnight Oct. 10. He was wearing a bandanna over his face and waved what the store clerk believed was a handgun, Newman said.
Sparrowgrove demanded money, and gave the clerk a black duffle bag in which she placed approximately $500 from the cash register.
He fled the area on foot and efforts to track his escape by Fox Lake police were unsuccessful.
In late November, a pair of witnesses went to Fox Lake police with information they believed indicated Sparrowgrove had committed the robbery.
After a series of interviews with police, Sparrowgrove admitted the Oct. 10 robbery and also confessed to taking $673 in a similar fashion from the Citgo on Grand Avenue on Oct. 19.
Newman agreed to drop charges based on the second robbery in exchange for Sparrowgrove’s admission in the first.
Sparrowgrove told police he needed the money from the robberies to pay the rent on his apartment because he had spent his rent money on heroin.
He told police he used a BB gun to commit the robberies, but the weapon was never recovered.
Assistant Public Defender Robin Goodstein asked Circuit Judge John Phillips to sentence her client to local jail time and probation so he could continue the drug treatment he has started while in jail.
Newman asked for the full six-year term to be imposed, saying Sparrowgrove had failed other periods of probation imposed for previous offenses.
Phillips said the prison term was necessary to punish Sparrowgrove for “terrorizing” the two clerks, but urged Sparrowgrove to continue drug treatment in prison.