Testimony begins in Streamwood Aldi armed robbery trial
Two employees of a Streamwood Aldi testified Tuesday they were "100 percent" certain that Freddie Clemons was one of three men who held them and two other co-workers at gunpoint during a robbery.
Their statements came on the first day of testimony in Clemons' trial on charges of armed robbery and unlawful restraint.
Former store employee Ella Villarruel and current employee Corrine Wimmer identified Clemons, 45, as the man who held a gun on them and ordered Wimmer to empty her cash drawer during the robbery, which took place shortly after 9 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2012, at the grocery store located on the 900 block of East Irving Park Road.
Clemons, who wore a black hoodie and black and white gym shoes, entered the store with two other men as the employees were preparing to close, said Villarruel, who was mopping one of the aisles at the time.
She testified two other men - one in a White Sox cap and the other in a red shirt, whom prosecutors identified as co-defendants Derrick Shelby, 52, and Joseph Bobbitt, 48 - entered with Clemons, who selected several items and took them to Wimmer's cash register.
"They were acting weird," said Wimmer, who told jurors Clemons ordered her to give him the money from her cash drawer, saying, "This isn't your money. We don't want to hurt you."
While the man in the red shirt waited outside, the other two told the women, their manager and another employee to lie on the floor, Wimmer said.
Video surveillance played for jurors shows the men, dressed as the women described, entering the store, forcing the employees to the floor and then leaving.
Both women identified Clemons in a photo lineup the day after the robbery.
Andrew Burnham, an employee of Fiesta Market located in the same plaza, testified that he was retrieving shopping carts when two men, one wearing a red shirt, ran by him from the direction of the Aldi. Burnham testified he saw money fall from the pockets of the man in the red shirt. Burnham collected the money, which he returned to a police officer who had arrived at the Aldi and captured the third suspect.
Shelby pleaded guilty to armed robbery in 2013 and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Charges are still pending against Bobbitt.
Testimony continues Wednesday.