The revolving door of Cook County’s crime-friendly justice system keeps spinning.
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| Wolkow | Chicago Police Dept |
You may remember Thomas Wolkow. He and two others were charged with possessing a pellet gun, theft, reckless conduct, and criminal damage to property after cops said the trio shot out car windows near the Sheridan Red Line station in late October. Officers found thirteen cell phones in the group’s possession.
Well, on December 21, Cook County Judge Joseph Panarese ordered the crew’s pellet gun to be destroyed, and he then threw out all of the charges.
The very next night—-yes, that’s right, the next night—Wolkow was arrested after a Boystown resident said he saw Wolkow enter their neighbor’s yard and kick in the garage door in the 3500 block of North Reta.
Wolkow, 22, is charged with criminal trespass to land and criminal damage to property.
Notably, in 2012, Wolkow was accused of possessing a pellet gun inside a Chicago Public Library. A different judge threw out that charge within weeks.
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| Green | Cook County Sheriff |
• Then there’s Mitchell Green, who was charged with robbing a CVS Pharmacy near Halsted and Fullerton in October. He managed to get out on bail and has now been arrested again for allegedly stealing from a Boystown Jewel-Osco store.
Prosecutors say Green, 33, tried to steal deviled eggs and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese from Jewel on December 26.
Green has been charged with one felony count of retail theft with a previous conviction and service of a warrant for failing to appear in court for the CVS robbery case. A judge ordered him held without bail.
Court records show Green has been convicted of retail theft nine times in the past ten years. CPD records show he has been arrested eight times near Fullerton and Lincoln over the previous two years and he’s been arrested another eight times near Clark and Diversey and the Belmont Red Line station.
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| Lakes | Ill Dept of Corrections |
• Finally, Roger Lakes.
Lakes was convicted of taking part in the brutal beating and robbery of a man under the Belmont L tracks in June 2014. He received a five-year sentence but, since Illinois loves criminals so much, he managed to get released on parole last May—less than two years after attacking the man.
But, criminals being criminals, Lakes just couldn’t go straight. Prosecutors say he sold suspected crack cocaine to an undercover cop near Truman College in late November.
Police say he is an admitted Gangster Disciple street gang member.
