A Sheridan man and woman have been charged with the armed robbery of a 46-year-old Aurora woman in the parking lot of a West Side strip mall, Aurora police announced Tuesday.

Edwin Sergio Alequin, 37, and Nicole Barkes, 29, both of the 200 block of East Grant Street, Sheridan, each face felony charges in connection to the robbery, which charging documents allege was motivated by a desire for drug money – specifically to acquire money to buy heroin.

Alequin is charged with armed robbery, a Class X felony; aggravated robbery, a class 1 felony; and unlawful possession of a credit or debit card, a class 4 felony, according to Kane County court records.

Barkes is charged with armed robbery, a Class X felony, and unlawful use of a credit card, a class 1 felony.

Alequin and Barkes pulled the robbery so they could get money to fund their heroin addictions, according to charging documents.

Though the two live together, they were apprehended separately. afddfaccording to Aurora police reports, while police said Barkes was arrested nearly two weeks ago.

At about 4:35 p.m. Jan. 27, Aurora police responded to an armed robbery in the West Aurora Plaza parking lot on the 1900 block of West Galena Boulevard.

A woman told police she was approached by a man who asked for money and, when she refused, he took out a gun that was later determined to be a pellet gun. The woman, who was not injured, told police when she ran in fear, she heard four "pops," which turned out to be one of the robbers breaking out a window to her car with the butt end of the pellet gun, according to police.

The man grabbed the woman's purse off the front seat and got into an SUV driven by Barkes, which was last seen eastbound on Galena, according to police.

Detectives quickly learned the woman's credit card, which had been in the stolen purse, was used at a gas station in Berwyn and a department store in Forest Park within two hours of the robbery, police said.

After securing video of those transactions, detectives discovered Barkes and could see another subject — Alequin — was driving the SUV, police said.

Detectives located redlight cameras in the area of the businesses, viewed video from the systems as provided by Forest Park police, and discovered the license plate on a Chevrolet Traverse SUV owned by Barkes, police said in the news release.

Police confirmed Barkes' identity by comparing her driver's license photo with images taken at the Berwyn and Forest Park businesses, along with two Aurora pawn shops where she was known to do business, according to the news release.

Aurora detectives and community policing officers took Barkes into custody Feb. 9. They went to Sheridan and set up a surveillance on her home, then saw her entering a car registered to one of her relatives and stopped the car on Route 71 in Norway, police said.

Alequin, however, "eluded authorities" until Feb. 17, when U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force agents traced him to an Aurora hospital, where he was eventually taken into custody without incident, police said. Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the reason Alequin was in the hospital had nothing to do with the robbery.

Alequin was presented with warrants when he was found at the hospital on Friday, Ferrelli said. Aurora police booking reports state that Alequin was arrested Monday on the 1300 block of North Highland Avenue. He would have been processed "after he was well enough to leave the hospital," Ferrelli said.

In addition to the charges stemming from the robbery, Alequin was also wanted by the Kane County Sheriff's Office on a contempt of court warrant.

"This case demonstrated amazing teamwork between different divisions of the police department and an unwavering commitment to putting all the pieces of a complicated case together," Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said in the news release.

Alequin is next to appear in court at 9 a.m. March 3 before Judge David P. Kliment at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles. His bail was set at $150,000 with 10 percent to apply for bond.

In 2012 he pleaded guilty to harassment by telephone, a 2011 misdemeanor charge out of Plano, and was sentenced to 12 months of conditional discharge, according to Kendall County court records.

Alequin's other previous nontraffic convictions since the year 2000 include possession of between 10 and 30 grams of marijuana in 2005 in Aurora; criminal damage to government property worth between $500 and $10,000 in 2003 in Batavia; possession of less than 2.5 grams of marijuana in 2002; domestic battery causing bodily harm in 2001 in Geneva; and battery causing bodily harm in 2000 in Batavia, according to court records.

Barkes is next to appear at 9 a.m. Friday before Kane County Judge Donald M. Tegeler. She was released Feb. 14 from Kane County custody after posting $5,000 bond.

hleone@tribpub.com

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