Woman, juvenile charged in Batavia armed robbery
A Geneva woman and St. Charles juvenile have been charged with armed robbery and retail theft, accused of taking a television at knife point from a Batavia Walmart.
Kayla N. Magnuson, 22, of 353 Brittany Court in Geneva is charged with armed robbery and retail theft. The unidentified 17-year-old male juvenile from St. Charles is charged with armed robbery, robbery and retail theft.
According to police, the pair entered the store at 801 N. Randall Road just before 6 a.m. and attempted to leave without paying for the television. The juvenile is alleged to have threatened employees with a knife when they attempted to stop him.
Employees were able to get the license plate number of the pair's car as they drove away. Geneva police found the car parked near Magnuson's apartment complex a few hours later and the television was still inside.
After a brief search, during which officers had guns drawn around the Ashford At Geneva Apartment Homes, Magnuson and the teen were found sleeping in an apartment. The vehicle was not registered to either of the suspects.
Area residents were not asked to stay indoors during the police search, said John White, leasing agent for the complex.
"It was a little alarming for Geneva because nothing like that happens in Geneva," resident Jeff Jackson said. "The cops didn't seem like they were alarmed. They were standing by (and) were pretty calm."
St. Charles police Cmdr. Jerry Gatlin said officers have been investigating several robberies that occurred within the past 24 hours.
The hunt for robbers started shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday after a theft was reported at the Meijer in St. Charles where two people stole a television.
"The complainant believed that they saw a knife, but it wasn't displayed," Gatlin said.
During the investigation, authorities learned there had been a similar theft at the Wal-Mart in St. Charles, also Wednesday morning.
All three crimes were executed between 4 and 6 a.m. in the same manner, and the descriptions of the suspects and the vehicle were the same, Gatlin said.
The suspects also are believed to be involved in a retail theft Tuesday in Sugar Grove, he said.
No one was injured, Gatlin said.
Police found the two suspects sleeping in one of the apartments where they had been staying with the tenant, Gatlin said.
The vehicle they were driving was not registered to either one of them, he said.
"We did some interviews and now we are in the process of executing some search warrants," Gatlin said. "We know this male offender because he resides in our town."
Magnuson was taken to the Kane County jail while the juvenile was taken to the Kane County Juvenile Justice Facility, also in St. Charles.
• Daily Herald staff photographer Brian Hill contributed to this report.