Prosecutors: Wheeling man took cab to robbery

A Wheeling man has been charged with aggravated robbery after authorities say he took a taxi to rob a Speedway gas station in Palatine, carried out more than $400 in a Styrofoam cup and then practically walked into the arms of a waiting police officer.

Kevin Katsev, 31, was ordered held on $100,000 bail Friday by Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo. Cataldo also ordered Katsev surrender his firearms and FOID card and not have contact with the gas station or its employee.

At about 2 a.m. Friday, a Palatine police officer observed a man, wearing a dark coat and a dark ski mask, walk into a Speedway in the 1200 block of Rand Road, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney David Shin. The officer also noticed a taxi with its engine running at the scene. The driver told the officer he was waiting for someone who matched the description of the man the officer observed entering the gas station, Shin said.

The man, later identified as Katsev, approached the cab carrying a cup overflowing with money, which authorities later said contained $471.50, Shin said. At the same time the officer recognized a robbery had taken place, police dispatch received a 911 call reporting a robbery at that location. The officer then arrested Katsev.

The clerk told police Katsev ordered him to "clear the money out of the register," Shin said.

According to court records, Katsev's background includes a 2002 conviction for the manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance for which he received 30 months probation. He also has a misdemeanor assault conviction from 2009, a DUI conviction from 2002 and a theft conviction from 2001.

He next appears in court on March 19.

If convicted of the class 1 felony, Katsev faces up to 15 years in prison.