Six charged in iPhone theft from Glendale Heights store

Four adults and two juveniles face felony charges stemming accusations they stole iPhones from a Target store Friday in Glendale Heights, DuPage County authorities said Sunday.

Aaren Verrett, 41, of Chicago; Matthew Martin, 20, of Merrillville, Indiana; Dante Smith, 21, of Chicago; and Terrance Knight Jr., 18, of Chicago, along with the juveniles, each have been charged with one count of retail theft and one count of burglary, officials said.

Martin faces an additional aggravated battery charge, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

According to the state's attorney, Glendale Heights police responded about 4:30 p.m. Friday to the Target at 175 W. Army Trail Road for a reported theft in which an employee was punched in the face.

Authorities say they later determined that the six defendants were driven by to the store by Verrett, who remained in the vehicle while the other five entered the store. Martin and one of the juveniles approached a phone display and the juvenile used a wire cutter to cut the security wire on an iPhone, officials said.

An alarm sounded and Martin allegedly struck an employee who responded, while the juvenile returned to cut another iPhone from the display, prosecutors said.

Authorities say the defendants then drove away but were stopped and arrested a short time late by police in Warrenville.

The value of the two iPhones is approximately $4,000, prosecutors said. All the defendants are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 4.

"During this holiday shopping season law enforcement in DuPage County will be on high alert to protect not only shoppers, but retail workers as well who are putting their health in jeopardy simply by working during the pandemic," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in an announcement of the arrests Sunday.