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Parolee Charged In Robbery Of Oak Park Bakery

OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- A 19-year-old parolee from the West Side has been charged with robbing the Bleeding Heart Bakery in Oak Park and locking a clerk in the basement.

The bakery is now planning to move out of its current location.

Travion D. Trapp, of the 300 block of North Hamlin Avenue, was charged Thursday night with two counts of robbery and one count each of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and burglary, according to Oak Park police.

Around 7:15 p.m. Dec. 5, a clerk was working the night shift at the bakery, at 1010 North Blvd. near the Oak Park Metra station, when a man came in, grabbed her and demanded money from the cash register, police said.

The woman handed over the money, but then the robber grabbed her and escorted her to the basement. There, he took more cash from the safe, and stole the woman's cell phone and car keys, police said.

The suspect then locked the woman in a storeroom and walked out, leaving her trapped, police said.

The losses to the bakery were estimated at about $3,200.

The clerk provided detailed information that allowed an artist from the Cook County Sheriff's Office to create a detailed sketch that was distributed across the area.

Trapp was first identified by an officer from Grand Central Chicago Police District from an earlier traffic stop, and then by an employee of the Park District of Oak Park, police told TribLocal.

"From there, it was a matter of good, old-fashioned police work – surveillance and arrest," Oak Park police Chief Rick Tanksley said.

Oak Park Police Cmdr Ledon Reynolds told CBS2 it's not the suspect's first brush with the law.

Police won't use the term confession, but they do say Trapp is talking with investigators, and is "cooperating."

Immediately following the robbery, there was talk of the bakery closing its Oak Park location altogether.

But in a Facebook posting on the Thursday night, the bakery said it planned to reopen "for a few weeks," then "scout out other locations in Oak Park."

The 22-year-old told CBS2's Mike Parker that she is still afraid and more cautious than before. But she added,  "I am determined that I won't let this ruin my life."

She won't be back at the bakery, however.

Bleeding Heart also sells "local, sustainable, punk rock pastry" at its bakeries at 1955 W. Belmont Ave. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood and 116 S. York St. in Elmhurst, and operates a bakery and café at 1916 W. Chicago Ave. in the West Town neighborhood.

Trapp was on parole after serving one year of a three-year sentence for robbery, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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