A 24-year-old Round Lake woman made an initial appearance in federal court Friday after being charged with larceny for allegedly attempting to rob a credit union in Grayslake Thursday morning.
Yvette Pedrero appeared before a federal judge Friday morning for an initial reading of charges in the case, according to FBI spokesman Garrett Croon. Croon said Pedrero was arrested following an investigation in which the FBI was assisted by the Grayslake and Gurnee police departments.
According to a criminal complaint filed against Pedrero in U.S. District Court, Pedrero attempted to enter the Community Trust Credit Union branch in Grayslake Thursday morning with the intention of robbing it.
The complaint included an FBI agent’s affidavit that said authorities based the charges against Pedrero on information from a cooperating witness, audio recordings and audio and video surveillance
The complaint states that a witness told Gurnee police in late August that Pedrero had asked for his help in robbing both the Grayslake and Gurnee branches of the credit union, either in the morning just after the credit union opened or just before closing time.
The witness said Pedrero said she used to work for the credit union and had conducted surveillance on both branches, according to the complaint. It stated she also told him that the two would split an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 following the robberies.
The complaint states that the witness said that he told Pedrero several times he was not interested in helping, and that he then called Crime Stoppers to report the incidents. At that point, the witness was put in contact with Gurnee police and began cooperating with law enforcement.
The witness, under the direction of law enforcement, then texted Pedrero and said he was interested, and several text and recorded conversations occurred over the next two days as Pedrero allegedly laid out plans for the robbery of the Grayslake facility, according to the complaint. At one point, Pedrero allegedly asked the witness whether he had a gun, but the witness expressed no desire in pursuing that discussion and the complaint does not allege that a weapon was involved in the robbery attempt.
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On Thursday morning, Pedrero allegedly picked up the witness, and under law enforcement surveillance, drove to and parked in a lot near the credit union.
According to the witness, Pedrero then put on a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses, hair extensions and other items of clothing while the witness also put on a hooded sweatshirt, the complaint states.
After leaving the car at about 10:10 a.m., and approaching the entranceway to the credit union on Route 83 in Grayslake, Pedrero was arrested by authorities.
Officials said Pedrero voluntarily waived her rights and admitted to authorities that she planned to rob the credit union.
She is currently being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Croon said Pedrero has not yet been arraigned in the case.
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