DeKalb man charged in downtown game store robbery, break-in at Lehan’s Drugs and damaging State Farm office

DeKALB – A DeKalb man has been charged with numerous offenses stemming from an alleged recent crime spree that included using a BB gun to rob a local game shop clerk of hundreds of dollars, burglarizing a drug store and damaging a State Farm insurance office, police said.

Javaughn J. Owens, 21, of the 1000 block of South Seventh Street was charged with aggravated robbery in a Friday afternoon stick-up at There’s Fun In Store, 229 E. Lincoln Highway, according to DeKalb County court records. DeKalb police also allege Owens burglarized Lehan’s Drug Store at 1407 S. Fourth St. and damaged a State Farm office at 129 E. Locust St.

Owens appeared before DeKalb County Judge Philip Montgomery on Monday, where he was represented by the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office, court records show. Montgomery gave Owens a $5,000 recognizance bond, meaning he was released from jail without needing to post money.

Police were called to the game store at 1:37 p.m. Friday for an alleged armed robbery, documents show. When officers arrived, a store clerk told police a man wearing a black jacket, gloves and a red backpack displayed a revolver and demanded money from the cash drawer.

The clerk told police he could see bullets in each chamber of the revolver that he alleged were hollow point bullets.

Police said surveillance video footage shows a man point a handgun at the store clerk, before the clerk took money from the cash register and put it on the counter, records show.

Owens allegedly took between $200 to $400 in cash from the store, records show. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the class 1 felony.

DeKalb police posted on Facebook photos of the video surveillance and alleged suspect, asking for the public’s help in identifying the man. A caller tipped police that Owens was the man in the video and the victim identified him from a photo lineup, police reported.

DeKalb police arrested Owens on Saturday at his home, where they allegedly also found a BB gun with “realistic looking bullets” in the chamber, records show. The gun appeared to match the revolver used during the robbery, and the suspect’s clothes worn in the video matched some found in Owens’ apartment, police said.

Police also alleged that while they were arresting Owens, they also uncovered evidence in his home that linked him to the two other crimes this month.

Owens was charged with burglary and criminal damage to property to Lehan’s Drugs. He also was charged with causing less than $500 in criminal damage to property from a State Farm office around Jan. 10, court records show.

Police responded to a burglar alarm that went off at 12:32 a.m. Jan. 16 at Lehan Drugs, records show.

When police arrived, they saw the drug store’s front door had been shattered, and multiple prescription medications had been stolen, records allege. The store’s video surveillance captured two men wearing masks and gloves approach the front door and break its glass with a hammer, police said. The two men then allegedly entered the store, put multiple prescription drugs in garbage bags and fled.

One of the men wore a blue coat with grey sleeves, a blue surgical mask with his face partially exposed, white gloves, black pants and black Nike tennis shoes, records state.

When DeKalb police arrested Owens at his home for the game store robbery, officers found clothes matching the ones from the drug store break in in Owens’ bedroom, records allege. A search of Owens’ home also uncovered a hammer and Nike shoes matching those seen in the video surveillance, police allege.

Owens was ordered to appear before a DeKalb County judge at 8:45 a.m. Feb. 27 on all charges related to the three incidents.