Man Guilty Of Robbing Wheaton Sprint Store At Gunpoint Gets 23 Years In Prison

“With their hands and feet bound and their eyes and mouths covered with duct tape, I cannot even begin to imagine the terror these innocent employees must have felt.”

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced last week that a former Calumet City man has been sentenced to twenty-three years in prison for robbing at gunpoint approximately $40,000 worth of merchandise from a Wheaton Sprint store in late 2019. Denzel Furance, 25, appeared at his sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon in front of Judge Michael Reidy, who handed down the sentence. Furance entered a plea of guilty to one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm, a Class X Felony in July.

At approximately 7:45 pm, November 8, 2019, Furance entered the Sprint store located at 212 Danada Square West in Wheaton armed with a semi-automatic weapon and wearing a mask, medical gloves and a hooded sweatshirt. Once inside the store, Furance ordered two employees at gunpoint to a back storage room where a third employee was located along with products and the store safe.

Furance then ordered one of the victims at gunpoint to bind the wrists and ankles of the other two employees with duct tape. He then bound the wrists and ankles of the third victim with duct tape. Furance then ordered the employees to open the safe containing electronic devices, after which Furance stole approximately fifty-eight items from the store, placing the items into garbage bags he had brought with him. He then covered the mouths and eyes of the three employees with duct tape and exited the store, inadvertently dropping some items on his way out. Several minutes later, he returned to the store to retrieve the items he had previously dropped and then fled the scene.

Furance was apprehended in Lansing, Illinois on November 9, 2019. The case against Furance’s co-defendant is currently pending with a next court date of February 26, 2024.

“Violent gun crimes have no place in society and my office stands ready to bring the full force and effect of the law upon anyone who commits this type of brazen criminal conduct,” Berlin said. “We are all thankful none of the employees were physically injured and it is my hope that with today’s sentence, the survivors of this crime will be able to continue their lives feeling safer knowing that the man who terrorized them has been sentenced to twenty-three years behind bars.”