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| Police say.Mark Walker (inset) is the man who broke into cars at a Lakeview condo complex last month. |
Well, well, well. Look who we have here.
Just before Christmas, we shared photos with you of an easy-going burglar who spent nearly an hour breaking into cars and picking locks at two condo buildings near the Paulina Brown Line station.
Now, Chicago police say they’ve caught the guy: 48-year-old Mark Walker. He’s charged with sixteen criminal counts including burglary, bank fraud, and more.
Shortly after noon last Wednesday, 20th District cops were called to the 5400 block of North Broadway to handle a car break-in case. When they arrived, they found Walker and the car’s owner on-scene. Walker “admitted to breaking the back passenger window” of the man’s Range Rover.
He also told police that he arrived in Edgewater via taxi, authorities say. And the cab was still there with its meter running as he ran “errands.”
Cops inspected the taxi and found a bag full of burglary tools—a screwdriver, a window punch, a pry bar, box cutter, socket, ratchet, he had it all, they said.
Detectives quickly connected Walker to a month-long, one-man crime spree that stretched from River North to the United Center to Lakeview.
Nine of the criminal charges against Walker stem from his two alleged break-ins of Lakeview condo buildings on December 21.
Walker is charged with burglarizing one condo residence in the 1600 block of West Belmont that night and then burglarizing or damaging eight cars in a condo building garage in the 3200 block of North Paulina minutes later.
On December 22, Walker broke into an office building in the 200 block of West Superior, cops say. Later that day, he allegedly tried to use a check that he stole from one of the offices.
On January 8, prosecutors say he tried to cash a stolen check made out to his name at a currency exchange near the United Center.
Walker is charged with nine counts of burglary, one count of residential burglary, two counts of bank fraud, criminal damage to property, theft of lost or mislaid property, possession of burglary tools, and illegal possession of eight hydrocodone pills.
Judge Stephanie Miller ordered Walker released on electronic monitoring with a $25,000 recognizance bond. Walker lists a homeless shelter on the Near West Side as his residence.
