6 years in prison for Batavia Dunkin' Donuts burglaries where pair distracted cashier

A 27-year-old woman has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing cash from her former employer, a Dunkin' Donuts inside a Batavia gas station, by distracting the cashier in May and June 2018.

Aleksandra A. Kunicka, of the 200 block of Union Street, pleaded guilty earlier this month to burglary, a felony that carried a sentence ranging from probation to up to seven years in prison.

Kunicka and her roommate, Brittany Burris, were arrested and charged in June 2018 with five burglaries that netted nearly $3,000.

According to court records, the two are accused of entering a Circle K gas station attached to the Dunkin' Donuts, 108 N. Batavia Ave., where they used to work, during the late evening or early morning hours May 31, as well as June 4, 7, 10 and 12.

One of them would distract the gas station clerk, while the other entered the Dunkin' Donuts area and grabbed cash kept in a kitchen and office area, according to a police affidavit used to secure a search warrant for Kunicka's 2001 Chevy TrailBlazer and both of their cellphones.

Burris pleaded guilty to felony burglary in March 2019. As part of her plea, she was sentenced to 180 days at the Kane County jail but had already served 200 days while the charges were pending, records show. Burris was to enter drug rehabilitation court and comply with all recommendations from an evaluation, as well as random drug tests, according to court records.

Burris, who had previous convictions of two felony thefts and forgery in Cook, DuPage and Kane counties, violated her probation and is now serving a five-year prison term.

Kunicka had been to prison before for previous felony convictions for two burglaries, violation of a bail bond, and possession of a controlled substance in Cook, Macon and Kane counties, records show. Under state law, Kunicka can have her sentence cut in half for good behavior in prison.