Palatine man gets 10 years for robbing gas station with World War II-era gun
A 58-year-old Palatine man admitted using an unloaded World War II relic given to him by his father to rob a Palatine gas station in January.
In exchange for his guilty plea to armed robbery, Stephen Roche was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with credit for 194 days in custody, court records show.
He was also ordered to pay $654 in fines.
Prosecutors said Roche was a regular customer at the gas station located in the 0-100 block of Northwest Highway in Palatine. After entering the station about 11:20 a.m. Jan. 12, Roche displayed a rusty, World War II-era gun and instructed the clerk to open the cash register drawer, prosecutors said.
The clerk ran from the station and called police, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, Roche took a carton of cigarettes and $340 from the cash register and left the premises. Police arrived within minutes and found Roche about a block away from the gas station.