A 43-year-old Aurora man charged with robbing a Family Dollar last month and trying to rob a 7-Eleven days later is also a suspect in several other Aurora area robberies, according to police.
Reginald Parker, of the 600 block of Tinley Drive, is charged with a Nov. 21 aggravated robbery indicating a firearm, a class 1 felony, at the Family Dollar on the 900 block of North Farnsworth Avenue; and an attempted robbery with a firearm Nov. 25 at the 7-Eleven on the 1700 block of North Farnsworth Avenue, according to police and court records.
Parker is in custody at the Kane County jail, where his bail is set at $1 million. He is or was a manager at a fast food restaurant on the 2100 block of West Main Street in St. Charles, according to police.
At about 8:20 p.m. Nov. 21, armed with what appeared to be a handgun and wearing a mask, Parker approached a 29-year-old man working at the Family Dollar and demanded money, police said in a statement released via Facebook. The clerk gave an undisclosed amount of cash to Parker, who then ran away northbound, police said.
About 9:15 p.m. Nov. 25, similarly armed and masked, Parker allegedly went into the 7-Eleven and demanded money from a 57-year-old female clerk. The clerk didn’t give him any money, and he left without taking anything, police said.
The 7-Eleven clerk told her version of events, saying the robbery attempt didn’t seem real to her when it was happening, but declined to disclose her name.
Aurora detectives reviewing surveillance videos from sources near the 7-Eleven were able to see the license plate of a vehicle that may have been involved that belonged to Parker, according to the statement. Detectives and community policing officers set up a surveillance on Parker on Dec. 4 at his workplace.
When Parker left work about 9:45 p.m. Dec. 4, police followed him as he drove toward Aurora and tried to get him to stop as he was turning onto Interstate 88 in North Aurora, according to the statement. But police said Parker accelerated and led them on a pursuit, which they ended after he turned onto westbound Sullivan Road from southbound Lake Street. He’s charged with class 4 felony fleeing or eluding and class A misdemeanor driving on a revoked license in connection with the Dec. 4 chase.
Aurora police said Parker was arrested Wednesday in Yorkville on an unrelated case. He doesn’t appear to have any pending cases filed in Kendall County.
Kane County records show Parker was charged with two counts of class 4 felony aggravated fleeing police on Tuesday. Those charges state Parker disobeyed two or more traffic control devices and drove at least 21 miles over the speed limit while fleeing police.
Aurora police said they recovered two replica handguns and a mask from his car.
