Burglar Busted After He Refuses To Leave Southport CTA Station, Cops Say

There’s never a good time to be on a CTA platform after service hours. But being there after burglarizing a nearby resident is a particularly bad decision.

Liberman

Just ask Julio Liberman.

Police were called to the Southport Brown Line station early last Wednesday because the 19-year-old Albany Park resident and two other teens refused to leave the platform, prosecutors say.

As cops issued Liberman’s trespassing citation, they learned that he had been seen on video burglarizing a garage and rummaging through a car in the 1300 block of West Newport, authorities say.

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Armed with the new information, cops arrested Liberman. He’s now charged with felony residential burglary and felony burglary.

Interesting Fella

Here’s an interesting guy who’s apparently found his way to Lakeview.

Meet 24-year-old Far South Side resident James D. Smith.

Smith

James is a three-time convicted burglar who was most recently paroled in December.

Cops arrested him near the Belmont Red Line station after a 37-year-old man reported that Smith punched him and knocked him to the ground, cutting the victim’s face around 1:30 a.m. on September 24.

He’s charged with battery in that case.

Interestingly, Smith was also arrested in our area at 1:15 a.m. on June 7. That time, he was picked up at the Boystown 7-Eleven, 3407 North Halsted, and charged with having street gang contact while on parole.

In 2012, Smith was sentenced to a five-year prison stint for residential burglary. But, since this is slap-on-the-wrist Illinois, he was released in half that time.

Before long, he was arrested again. Convicted of TWO automobile break-ins in Lincoln Park, he earned a pair of concurrent three-year sentences in 2015. And, once again, he was released early last December.

Any who. We thought some neighbors might like to get a look at Smith’s mug since he seems to have a theft problem and he’s apparently spending quite a bit of time far from his home late at night.

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About CWBChicago 4259 Articles
CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets.