Owner of Shawn's Coffee Shop in Sycamore charged with battery of a teen employee

SYCAMORE – The owner of Shawn’s Coffee Shop in Sycamore is facing battery charges after a 15-year-old employee told police he picked her up, bit her on the neck and inappropriately grabbed her.

Shawn Thrower, 61, of the 10000 block of Old State Road, Sycamore, was charged March 4 with misdemeanor battery and was released on his signature from DeKalb County Jail a day later, DeKalb County court records show.

Thrower declined to comment on the incident when reached by phone Tuesday.

According to documents, the victim had been working at Shawn’s Coffee Shop, 204 Somonauk St., in Sycamore, for about a month and a half at the time. Records show she reported the incident to the Sycamore police on Feb. 27, the day she says it happened.

Records show Thrower texted the teen the day after it happened and said that he was “really sorry.”

“Gosh, I’m really sorry about yesterday,” Thrower stated in the text to the girl, records show. “Man you scared the [expletive] out of me, um yeah, I just picked you up and kind of bit you, but gosh, I don’t want it to go any further than that. Thanks, sweetie, I’ll talk to you later, bye.”

Later that day, Sycamore police interviewed Thrower at the coffee shop. Thrower told police that the teen had scared him by jumping out from behind a refrigerator, and that he picked them up and “took a chunk” out of their shoulder. He then told police, “I grabbed somewhere I shouldn’t have.”

Court documents show the teen told police that Thrower bit her in the jugular area of their neck after he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up. Police reports show he bit her in the neck multiple times before she was able to get away, and then grabbed her buttocks as she tried to walk away.

The 15-year-old told Sycamore police that Thrower showed “favoritism” while at work, which made them feel “uncomfortable,” records state.

The day following the incident, the teen texted Thrower, saying they weren’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at work that day, and that his biting had left marks on their neck and made them “really uncomfortable.”

Sycamore police advised Thrower of the criminal charges March 4, where he voluntarily came to the Sycamore Police Department to be booked, and was released on his signature, records show.

A sign on the door of Shawn’s Coffee Shop on Tuesday shows the shop is closed until Monday, April 6, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Thrower is scheduled to appear for a status hearing on the charges on April 20 at 9 a.m. at the DeKalb County Courthouse, though the date could be pushed back pending further COVID-19-related closures.