8 years prison for man in two 2017 Aurora robberies
A 43-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting his role in two robberies in the city in late 2017, along with two subsequent police chases.
Reginald D. Parker pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of attempted armed robbery in connection with a Nov. 21, 2017, case at Family Dollar, 890 N. Farnsworth Ave., and a Nov. 25, 2017, case at 7-Eleven, 1790 N. Farnsworth Ave., according to Kane County court records.
He was sentenced to eight years on each charge but is serving the sentences concurrently.
Parker also pleaded guilty to felony aggravated fleeing and eluding in chases involving Aurora police on Dec. 4 and Dec. 13, 2017, records show.
Kane County prosecutors dismissed more severe charges of armed robbery, which carry a six- to 30-year prison term, in exchange for the guilty pleas. Judge D.J. Tegeler accepted the pleas last week.
In the Family Dollar robbery, police said, a masked and armed Parker entered the store around 8:20 p.m. and demanded money from the 29-year-old clerk. The employee handed Parker an undisclosed amount of money, and Parker ran from the store.
Four days later, Parker, again masked and armed, went into the 7-Eleven about 9:15 p.m. and demanded money from the 57-year-old female clerk. But she refused to even open the register, so Parker left, police said.
No one was injured in either case.
Detectives zeroed in on Parker after getting his SUV license plate off security videos in the attempted 7-Eleven robbery, and authorities on Dec. 4 set up surveillance of Parker at a St. Charles fast-food restaurant he managed on the 2100 block of West Main Street.
Police tried to pull him over that night after he left work, but a chase ensued and he was stopped on Aurora's near west side.
Parker was arrested in mid-December in Yorkville in an unrelated case, police said, and two replica handguns, a mask and other items were found in his vehicle.
Under the plea agreement, Parker must pay Family Dollar $150 in restitution and gets credit for 115 days served while being held at the Kane County jail.