FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Three men from Michigan have been charged after allegedly assaulting an employee at a Fond du Lac Walmart and stealing nearly $3,600 worth of Apple watches.
24-year old Jaylon K. Autry, 22-year-old Ricky L. Bell and 24-year-old Antonio D. Butler were formally charged Tuesday.
Butler is charged with:
Robbery with use of force, as a party to a crime, repeater
Felony retail theft – intentionally take $500 – $5000, as a party to a crime, repeater
Misdemeanor battery, repeater
Disorderly conduct, as a party to a crime, repeater
If convicted on all counts, Butler’s maximum sentence is 33.5 years in prison.
Bell is charged with:
Robbery with use of force, as a party to a crime, repeater
Felony retail theft – intentionally take $500 – $5000, as a party to a crime, repeater
Disorderly conduct, as a party to a crime, repeater
Bell could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Autry is charged with:
Robbery with use of force, as a party to a crime
Felony retail theft – intentionally take $500 – $5000, as a party to a crime
Disorderly conduct, as a party to a crime
If convicted on all counts, Autry could be sentenced to more than 18 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to the Walmart at 377 N. Rolling Meadows Drive in Fond du Lac around 7:45 p.m. Sunday for a report of a robbery.
Autry, Bell and Butler entered the store and went to the electronics section. One of the men asked an employee to open the locked case behind the front counter to see an iPad.
The three men are alleged to have assaulted a store employee and left the store with “at least ten” stolen Apple watches worth $3,590, according to the complaint.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video and Walmart sent out an alert to other Walmart stores in the state.
The suspects were spotted at a Watertown Walmart but ran away. Later, police received a call that the Whitewater Police Department intercepted the vehicle in the parking lot of the Walmart in their city.
Fond du Lac police officers went to the Whitewater Walmart and took all three suspects into custody. All the stolen Apple watches were recovered.
All three suspects are convicted felons and have extensive criminal histories in Michigan, Indiana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
