(CREDIT: Google Maps)

An Aurora man was arrested Tuesday (May 21, 2019) after officers tracked him from the scene of an armed robbery.

Lamar Russell

According to an Aurora Police Department news release, Lamar Russell, 26, of the 2300 block of Sunshine Court, Aurora, remains behind bars as of Wednesday and charged with the armed robbery of a Dollar General Store on Aurora’s East Side.

At 12:40 p.m. Tuesday, Aurora police officers were called to the Dollar General Store, at 1033 E. Galena Boulevard, to respond to a call of an armed robbery which had just occurred there.

Upon arrival, officers learned that a male wearing a face mask and brandishing a handgun, forced his way into the store office demanding access to the store’s safe. The male then took an employee, who was alone in the office, to other parts of the store in an attempt to locate the safe.

The male fled the store without gaining access to the safe, but not before taking the employee’s cellular phone police said.

(CREDIT: Google Maps)

Police viewed surveillance video and obtained a description of the offender, and began tracking the victim’s stolen cellular phone, which led them to the offender’s location several miles away and near his home.

Russell was located on a walking path near Haffenrichter Road and Pinecreek Drive, where he was taken into custody without further incident. The victim’s cellular phone was found on Russell’s person at the time of his arrest, along with a replica handgun.

Russell was transported to the Kane County Jail, where he remains in custody on charges of Armed Robbery, a Class X felony.

The store employee was not injured during this incident.

During the incident, Rollins Elementary School was temporarily placed on lockdown due to its proximity to the event. No students or staff members from Rollins Elementary were injured or in immediate danger during this incident.

Another Aurora Dollar General Store was robbed on March 25.

Charges are not proof of guilt. The defendant listed herein is presumed innocent and is entitled to fair trials at which it is the burden of the State to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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