Elgin pair suspected in purse thefts arrested

Elgin police say they hope a string of purse thefts will stop now that an Elgin couple has been arrested.

Ernesto Juarez, 19, of 501 Cleveland Ave., Elgin, was arrested Sunday and charged with robbery, residential burglary, drunken driving, driving while license suspended, failure to yield turning left and failure to yield in an intersection, police said.

Janet Martinez, 21, of 515 Ashland Ave., Elgin, was arrested Monday at the Elgin lockup when she came to bail Juarez out of jail.

Martinez was charged with residential burglary, police said.

Police said several purses were snatched from shoppers in parking lots on Elgin's east and west sides in the past few months. These incidents led to more police patrols in the lots and the eventual arrests of the couple, police said.

On Jan. 14, the purse of a 46-year-old woman was snatched in a lot on the 200 block of South Randall Road. It contained credit cards, a driver's license and a cell phone.

Police said they have evidence Juarez and Martinez later tried to use one of the credit cards from that purse to buy gold chains.

Janet Martinez remains in the Kane County jail with a $7,000 bond and a March 28 court date at the Kane County Judicial Center.

Ernesto Juarez was taken to the Kane County jail Tuesday with a $12,000 bond and an April 3 court date at the Kane County Judicial Center.