Grayslake man facing federal armed robbery charges

A Grayslake man is facing federal armed robbery charges stemming from a string of holdups at retail stores across Lake County and northern Cook County last summer.

Leroy Regan, 38, is accused of committing eight armed robberies over 10 days last August and firing shots from a vehicle following one of the robberies, prosecutors said.

Regan was arrested last summer, but the federal charges were added this week after the case was taken over from the state under the "umbrella of Project Safe Nieghborhoods," federal authorities said. The spree began Aug. 5 at a retail store in North Chicago, prosecutors said. The robberies netted more than $1,700, authorities said.

In each instance, Regan is accused of entering the store wearing a hooded sweatshirt and brandishing a handgun. After taking money from the register, he fled. In one instance, prosecutors said shots were fired from a getaway car. The shots did not injure anyone.

Regan is also accused of robbing stores, restaurants and gas stations in Waukegan, Beach Park, Highland Park and Wilmette. He faces life in prison if convicted.

An accomplice, Jeffrey Valentine, 31, of Chicago, is also charged with one count of robbery, but that case is being prosecuted by the state.