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| Brandis. Again. (Cook Co Sheriff’s Dept) |
Good news for neighborhood nuisance Ryan Brandis: A judge threw out his latest theft charge last week. Bad news for Ryan Brandis: He managed to get arrested again on Tuesday.
Judge Marvin Luckman ruled that there was no probable cause to try Brandis for allegedly stealing a bike from a Clark Street bicycle rack. Passers-by held Brandis for police, but Luckman determined that there just wasn’t enough evidence against Brandis, who’s currently on parole for burglary.
Brandis’ freedom didn’t last long. He was arrested early Tuesday in Uptown after allegedly following a woman down the street and squeezing her buttocks. Now charged with battery, Brandis is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Brandis has been arrested two other times in the past month. He’s accused of panhandling outside of a Chase ATM vestibule near Broadway and Waveland on February 25 (it’s illegal to panhandle near ATMs in Chicago) and accused of pot possession on February 23. And, of course, there was the bike theft for which there was no probable cause.
In other court news:
• The last of the five men charged with theft of lost or mislaid property after cops found 24 stolen catalytic converters in their crashed minivan near Addison and Lincoln this winter have reached plea deals. Christian Buie and Jeramie Murry were both given 1 year’s probation.
• Andrew Lopez, charged with burglary after a Lake View resident shared surveillance footage of his escapades with CWB, has pleaded guilty. In exchange, he received 24 month’s probation. He is due back in court on April 27, when his lawyer is expected to request that the judgement be vacated and charges dismissed.
• Brian Conner, twice arrested for threatening staff members at the Center on Halsted, saw assault charges dropped last Friday after the COH employee he allegedly threatened failed to show up in court. Aggravated assault charges against him were dropped one month earlier after a COH worker who accused Conner of threatening him with a dual-bladed knife failed to show up in court.
• Adam Feldman, suspected in the robberies of several local businesses, is now charged with one of the three crimes. A Cook County grand jury last week approved charges against Feldman in connection with the armed robbery of a Lincoln Park tanning salon on February 16. Feldman is also suspected of robbing Subway sandwich shops in Wrigleyville and near the Belmont Red Line station days before the salon job. Northbrook police say he also robbed a Subway and a Domino’s pizza store in their town that same week.
