Armed with a knife and a handgun, two men robbed a St. Charles shop owner of two water pipes worth $4,000 and attempted to sell them on Facebook, police said.
A recently released search warrant provides details of the crime, which occurred Jan. 4 inside a smoke shop in the 1500 block of East Main Street.
Weeks later, two men from St. Charles were charged with committing the robbery after a Facebook message helped seal the case against them, police said.
Police said after stealing the water pipes from a display case at gunpoint, the men attempted to sell them to a friend online.
According to a warrant affidavit, St. Charles police were tipped off about Rayshawn Vonperbandt, 20, after he allegedly asked a person online if she wanted to purchase a unique water pipe with a great white shark on top of it. The description matched one of the pipes stolen from the tobacco shop, police said.
Through subsequent Facebook searches, police were able to identify the second suspect as 20-year-old Jacob Fahey. In one photo, police said Fahey was wearing a Mexican poncho identical to the one worn by one of the suspects during the robbery.
Police said the robbery occurred around 6:20 p.m. Jan. 4, but that wass not the first time the suspects were caught on camera inside the shop.
Security footage shows that Fahey and Vonperbandt had been at the tobacco show the day prior to the robbery and were looking at some expensive items.
Police said Fahey had what appeared to be a handgun, and Vonperbandt was wielding a knife when they entered the store the next day. The two made small talk with the store owner, who became suspicious of the two men.
When the owner attempted to call police, the suspects held him at gunpoint and demanded his phone, police said.
The robbers were given the key to the display case and took two unique pipes, police said.
After linking the men to the crime, police located evidence that they said further pinned them to the robbery.
Vonperbandt was stopped by police on Jan. 20 for driving with no valid license. Inside his vehicle police allegedly found a knife matching the description of the weapon used in the robbery. After searching Vonperbandt’s home, police located both water pipes, and the clothing Vonperbandt was believed to be wearing during the robbery.
Police then went to Fahey’s home to speak to him about the incident. Police said he became violent, and fought with police. Officers were issued a warrant to search Fahey’s home where police found the Mexican poncho he had allegedly worn during the robbery. Police also allegedly found a BB gun that had been painted black.
Armed robbery charges were filed against both men.
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