Crime & Safety

Sex Offender Held After Robbing Waitress, Mom & Kids

The man made sexual advances on the teenage waitress while a mother and her children hid in the bathroom, texting her husband to call 911.

A convicted sex offender was ordered held on $1 million bail after robbing a waitress, suburban mother and her two children Sunday night at the Lake View restaurant Cassava Bread, the Chicago Tribune reports.

William Castle, 43, of Tennessee, was charged with aggravated robbery, unlawful restraint and aggravated kidnapping, police said. He is also on Tennessee’s sexual offender registry for aggravated sexual battery in 2009.

Police say the Buffalo Grove family was eating at the Lake View bakery at 3338 N. Clark St. when Castle busted in around 6:10 p.m., asking the 19-year-old waitress if he could use the bathroom, the Hartford Courant reports. Instead, the man entered the kitchen, grabbed the woman by her collar and said, “Give me all the cash,” according to the police report.

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According to the Chicago Tribune:

The waitress opened the register drawer and gave him $333, but when he yelled: "Is this it?" the Buffalo Grove mother began crying.

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Castle then ordered the 43-year-old Buffalo Grove woman, her 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter into a rear bathroom.

While keeping his hand in his pocket, the robber told the woman: "Just give me the cash and no one will get hurt; I don't want to have to hurt you!" according to a police report.

That’s when the mother locked herself and her children in the bathroom while Castle continued screaming, “Give me the rest of the money—I’ve robbed 36 other places and am going away for life! I need more money!,” according to the Courant.

Police say the woman had just enough time to text her husband, “Don’t come robber in here call 911” while the suspect knocked on the door to make sure she wasn’t calling 911, the Tribune writes.

The husband called police who showed up and caught the fleeing suspect after he forced the teenage waitress to shut off all the lights and made sexual advances toward her, CBS Chicago reports.

The stolen money was recovered when Castle was taken by police,  the Tribune writes. 

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