Couple charged in March Sycamore bank robbery went on shopping spree with $100 bills: police

SYCAMORE - A couple with criminal history in the area face new charges after Sycamore police say they robbed a Heartland Bank in early March and stole $1,400 before driving to Cortland and Dixon to purchase items from gas stations and a liquor store with $100 bills.

Kevin J. Hagemeier, 25, of the 300 block of Delcy Drive in DeKalb, and his girlfriend, Ashley N. Zick, 26, of the 600 block of South Cross Street in Sycamore, are each charged with aggravated robbery. If convicted of the Class 1 felony, the pair faces up to 15 years in jail.

Both were being held at the jail on a $50,000 bond from arrest warrants obtained by Sycamore police for the bank robbery, according to a Wednesday morning news release from the Sycamore Police Department.

It’s not the first time Hagemier is accused of robbery in DeKalb County, court records show.

According to court records, Hagemeier has been held in custody at the DeKalb County Jail since March 3 after a DeKalb arrest for a Feb. 27 aggravated robbery at Jimmy John’s, 850 Pappas Drive in DeKalb. The case remains ongoing.

Zick also has criminal history in DeKalb County, records show. Zick and her former fiancé, Thomas Broughton, were charged in a 2017 attack where the pair were accused of coercing a 19-year-old woman to their Sycamore apartment, tying her to a bed and raping her multiple times.

Originally set to go to trial on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint, Zick pleaded guilty on Sept. 24, 2020, to unlawful restraint. Records show she did not enter a plea for the sex charges.

DeKalb County Judge Philip Montgomery sentenced Zick to 30 months probation, court records show. Broughton pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault on Oct. 18, 2019, and was sentenced by Montgomery to eight years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Zick, who appeared virtually from the jail for a bond hearing Wednesday in front of Montgomery, was on probation at the time of her bank robbery arrest. She was represented by the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office during the hearing.

“I’m, in a professional sense, intimately familiar with Ms. Zick,” Montgomery said, citing her previous criminal record. “Pretrial services is unable to provide reasonable assurances of the defendant’s future compliance with conditions of bail.”

Montgomery ordered the bond amount as it was set in the arrest warrant. Zick would have to post $5,000 to be released from jail.

Montgomery suggested she could qualify in the future for DeKalb County’s treatment court program, which enters those charged with a non-violent crime into court-mandated drug, alcohol or mental health treatment as an alternative to traditional court proceedings.

Hagemeier, who was also represented by the public defender’s office during a bond hearing Wednesday, will also remain in jail. Montgomery ruled Hagemeier’s bond remain at $50,000, with $5,000 needed to be posted for release.

Robbery records

According to DeKalb County court records, Zick is accused of driving the pair in a silver 2005 Honda Accord to Heartland Bank and Trust at 124 S. Main St. in downtown Sycamore around 2 p.m. March 2. Hagemeier is accused of walking into the bank with a note that demanded $1,400 and threatened violence with a gun.

At the time the bank robbery was reported, Sycamore police said they didn’t know if the man actually had a weapon on him.

According to police reports and court records, investigators used video surveillance footage from several countywide houses, businesses and tollway records, testimony from interviews and Zick and Hagemeier’s cellphone to compile a narrative of the robbery.

Hagemeier allegedly entered the bank through the south door at 2:01 p.m. that day, wearing all black with an ace bandage-style face covering, and gave the note to the bank teller, court records state. Bank staff handed over the $1,400, all in $100 bills. Hagemeier then left through the same door.

Hagemeier and Zick met with DeKalb police at the DeKalb Police Department the following day related to the Jimmy John’s robbery, records state, where Hagemeier allegedly wore a similar style face covering.

After learning there were similarities in both robberies, Sycamore police came to DeKalb to interview Zick also on March 3, court records state. Zick reportedly told officers she had driven to the bank the day before, and parked her car in the parking lot while Hagemeier went inside to rob the place. Zick reportedly told police she left with him shortly after and drove them to Casey’s General Store in Cortland, the Melrose Park area and Dixon before returning to DeKalb on March 3, records state.

Video surveillance showed Zick’s car in the bank parking lot before and after the robbery, court records allege. Sycamore police searched the car at the DeKalb Police Department March 3 and reportedly found $704 in the passenger side door pocket.

Surveillance showed Hagemeier entering the Casey’s at 70 S. Somonauk Road in Cortland around 2:13 p.m., where he purchased fuel, cigarettes and food with a $100 bill, records allege. Around 8:43 p.m. that evening, Hagemeier entered Hometown Pantry & Liquors at 110 E. Seventh St. in Dixon where he allegedly bought alcohol with another $100 and asked for change.

At 11:32 p.m. that night, Hagemeier and Zick entered the Citgo gas station at 502 W. Third St. in Dixon to buy fuel and food, also with a $100 bill, records stated, citing police reports on video surveillance.

According to Sycamore police, Hagemeier’s phone also showed messages after the robbery related to drug transactions, which Zick allegedly told police they’d bought with the bank’s money.

On March 9, Sycamore police attempted to interview Hagemeier, but he asked for a lawyer, records state.

The Feb. 27 robbery of the Jimmy John’s mirrored the bank robbery, according to court documents. Zick also told police she drove Hagemeier to the Pappas Drive Jimmy John’s, where he allegedly donned gloves, a dark coat, a backpack and flesh-colored bandage covering his face, records show. DeKalb police said he handed an employee a note that stated he was armed and demanded cash.

Zick reportedly told police Hagemeier returned with at least $100 in cash. Zick is not charged in the Jimmy John’s incident, according to the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Hagemier was ordered to appear for a status hearing at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Zick is expected to appear for a status hearing at 2:30 p.m. May 31.

This story has been updated as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, 2022 with additional information from DeKalb County court proceedings which took place at the DeKalb County Courthouse Wednesday.