Two men arraigned on robbery charges in unrelated incidents
Sep. 24—URBANA — Two men were arraigned on Monday for separate incidents in which they each allegedly robbed others while indicating they were armed with a gun.
The Champaign County State's Attorney's office charged Michael Alexander, 47, of Champaign, and Cervantes L. Laster, 23, of Urbana, with aggravated robbery while indicating they were armed with a firearm. Alexander was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
In the most recent case, Champaign police responded to the Walmart located at 2610 N. Prospect Ave. around 5:15 p.m. Friday for a report of an armed robbery, Assistant State's Attorney Toby Ortega said.
On scene, officers learned that a man had stolen merchandise from the store and flashed a gun on his hip when he was confronted by a loss-prevention employee. The employee then disengaged and the man left.
Champaign police located Alexander nearby with an airsoft replica of Glock handgun on his person, as well as 14.5 grams of fentanyl and the stolen merchandise in his bag, Ortega said.
Alexander gave a statement to police in which he allegedly said he stole the merchandise and tried to explain to the loss-prevention employee that the gun he flashed was fake.
In the second case, Urbana police responded to a Casey's convenience store located in Urbana around 12:58 a.m. on July 6 for a report of an armed robbery.
There, two employees told police that a suspect who had previously stolen from the store had just flashed a gun in his waistband to other customers inside the store.
When one of the employees told the man to leave, the suspect threatened to smack the employee, grabbed two bottles of alcohol, and told the employee he would "smoke you" if he did something about it, Ortega said.
Urbana police reviewed surveillance footage from the robbery and allegedly identified the suspect as Laster using features like his tattoos. Laster was arrested on Saturday during an unrelated incident and denied any involvement with the robbery, Ortega said.
Both men face four to 15 years in prison if convicted of aggravated robbery while indicating they were armed with a firearm. The state requested that they be held in jail ahead of their trials; hearing on that matter is scheduled to take place today.
