Regular Customer With Word War II Gun Accused of Holding Up Gas Station

PALATINE, IL — A frequent customer is accused of sticking up a village gas station with an unloaded and rusted World War II-era, semiautomatic handgun Thursday, according to the Daily Herald.

Stephen Roche, 58, was charged with armed robbery and is being held on $200,000, according to Cook County Sheriff's Office records. His next court date is Feb. 3, and he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted.

At about 11:20 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, Roche walked in to the station in the 0-100 block of Northwest Highway and allegedly pulled a gun on the clerk, the report stated. He ordered the clerk to open the register, which the clerk did and then hit the station's panic button wired to the police department, the report added.

Before Roche left, the clerk fled to the gas station across the street to call police, the report stated. Roche stole $340 in cash from the register and a carton of cigarettes before leaving the station, the report added.

Officers found Roche a block from the station, the Herald reports. He still had the World War II gun, which was given to him by his dad, the report added.

A surveillance photo and the clerk later identfied Roche as the robber, according to the report.

More via the Daily Herald

Stephen Roche, 58 (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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