Crime & Safety
Ex-Con Charged With Radio Shack Robberies Pleads Not Guilty
Reginald Taylor, 47, of Chicago has pleaded not guilty to felony charges in two separate armed robbery cases and was given a $500,000 bond.
A Chicago man charged with robbing at least two area Radio Shack stores has pleaded not guilty.
Reginald Taylor, 47, was apprehended in Oak Lawn after holding police at bay with a handgun was charged with robbing the Frankfort Radio Shack. He had already faced robbery charges in connection with a Nov. 7 stickup at the Radio Shack on Harlem Avenue in Palos Heights.
Taylor has two cases with several felony charges, including armed robbery, being an armed habitual criminal possession/use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated robbery and aggravated unlawful restraint.
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Cook County Judge John J. Hynes issued a $500,000 bond in the new cases when Taylor appeared in court on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Taylor's most recent arrest was in violation of parole of an earlier burglary conviction and he was taken back to the Illinois Department of Corrections in Stateville, where he is currently in custody. Besides various burglary convictions, he has done prison time for drugs, theft and arson.
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In the Palos Heights robbery, Taylor allegedly waited for customers to leave the Radio Shack and locked the store's front door. He then reportedly brandished a handgun, demanded cash and fled with what employees gave up.
Taylor headed from Palos Heights to Oak Lawn, where he went into another Radio Shack, police said. An employee of that store recognized Taylor and the police were contacted, according to reports. Taylor fled but officers cornered him in the stairwell of a house, police said. He was taken into custody after an hour-long standoff.
A Frankfort Radio Shack was robbed six days before the holdup in Palos Heights. Like in the later heist, Taylor allegedly menaced store employees with a handgun. One of those employees reportedly went on to pick Taylor out of a lineup conducted at the Oak Lawn Police Department.
Authorities have said they don't know why Taylor has allegedly focused on Radio Shacks. He reportedly stole cash and smartphones.
Taylor is scheduled to be back in Hynes' court on Jan. 13.
