A status conference is scheduled for Nov. 26 for a Lake Geneva woman charged with burglarizing her dad’s apartment and another residence along with three of her friends.
Mercedes P. Sharkus, 21, was charged Oct. 1 in Walworth County Circuit Court with armed robbery, burglary of a building or dwelling and misdemeanor theft, all as a party to a crime.
A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 28 for her alleged co-conspirator Jevan C. Diaz, 20, of Lake Geneva, who is charged with the same offenses. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25 for her boyfriend, Alexander B. Beatovic, 20, who also is charged with the same offenses.
According to the criminal complaint, a resident of East First Street in Elkhorn reported seeing the light go on in her son’s room at about 11:25 p.m. Sept. 15 and went to investigate since her son was not home. She said she saw two people in her son’s room who went out the window and ran toward a wooded area, according to the complaint. A screen on the bedroom window was cut, and her son’s X-box was taken, the complaint states.
About 20 minutes later, an armed robbery was reported on East Hartwell Street in which Sharkus’ father was held up at gunpoint by two men wearing hoods, according to the complaint. The man said he heard a knock on his apartment door, and a person was shouting his name, so he opened the door and was shoved backward to the kitchen by a man wearing black clothes and a black mask, according to the complaint.
The man said one of the men pointed a handgun at him and a man ordered him to the ground, calling him by name, according to the complaint. He said the men took his medications, his wallet and marijuana from his freezer, according to the complaint. He said one of the men sounded like Beatovic, his daughter’s boyfriend, and was similar in stature, according to the complaint.
On Sept. 19, police learned Sharkus admitted being involved in the robbery of her father along with Beatovic, Diaz and another person, according to the complaint. She said the robbery was committed to obtain marijuana, the complaint contends.
On Sept. 20, police saw a car that matched the description of the one used in the burglary in Babe Mann Park, and Beatovic, Sharkus and Diaz were in the car, according to the complaint. Police searched the car and found CO2 guns and a bag that contained Sharkus’ father’s driver’s license, Social Security card and Quest card that had been in his stolen wallet, according to the complaint.
In an interview with police that day, Beatovic admitted, after initially presenting a concocted alibi, that he, Sharkus, Diaz and the other person were responsible for both burglaries on Sept. 15, according to the complaint. Beatovic said the fourth man entered the first apartment while Beatovic stood outside the window as a lookout and Diaz and Sharkus waiting in Diaz’s car. Beatovic said Diaz and the other man entered Sharkus’ father’s apartment and Beatovic drove the get-away car but all four of them were present and divided the marijuana among them, the complaint states.
