(ELGIN) An Elgin man is charged in connection with a recent armed robbery and two aggravated robberies in the northwest suburb this summer.
Michael L. Taylor
Michael L. Taylor, 52 of the 300 block of North Crystal Street in Elgin, was identified as a suspect in three incidents at Elgin stores by an officer who saw surveillance photos, police said in a statement.
Taylor is charged with one count of armed robbery without a firearm for an August 13 incident at an Aldi grocery store in the 200 block of Randall Road, and with two counts of aggravated robbery indicating a firearm at the Family Dollar in the 600 block of Dundee Avenue on June 3 and August 2.
Police say Taylor brandished a black handgun and stole an undisclosed amount of money from a register before running from the Aldi about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
A witness to Wednesday’s robbery, Lela Olson of Crystal Lake, told the Elgin Courier-News she was checking out with her 10-month-old daughter in the stroller next to her when a man pulled a gun and began screaming.
The man did not have any covering over his face, Olson said, though there were at least 10 people in the checkout lanes and others in the store at the time, she said.
“As I was handing the shopping cart back to cashier, I turned around … someone was screaming.” Olson said.
She thought it was someone “having an insane argument with his girlfriend,” until she turned around and saw him waving a gun.
Olson said she considered running to the door, or ducking down, but instead froze in place.
“It happened really fast” she said. “He ran outside, his gun in his left hand as he ran out the door.”
Olson called 911 and waited in the store for officers to arrive, she said.
Taylor is scheduled to appear in Kane County bond court Sunday.
