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| Miguel Yanez was arrested at North Avenue Beach on Saturday evening, police said. | Wikicommons; CPD |
An Uptown man charged with stealing a bike at North Avenue Beach on Saturday—and then trying to sell it to passers-by—now has three theft cases pending against him, according to court records.
Despite police noting in Saturday’s arrest report that the alleged bike theft was “a clear violation of bail bond conditions,” Judge Michael Clancy released 41-year-old Miguel Yanez on a recognizance bond. It’s Yanez’s third recognizance bond for theft since May 15th.
Around 5 p.m. on Saturday, a witness told police that she saw a man cut a bike chain off of a handrail at the North Avenue Beach boathouse. The man then started to offer the bike (and a second bike) for sale to passers-by at the beach, she said.
Cops caught up with Yanez on the Lakefront Trail about two blocks north of the boathouse. At the same time, a man approached a lifeguard stand to report that the bike he chained to the boathouse railing had been stolen while he went swimming. According to prosecutors, Yanez had the man’s bike.
He was charged with one count of misdemeanor theft and released on an I-Bond by Clancy.
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| His “power washer” mugshot |
Back on May 15, an art school employee was working in an alley behind the school when he saw Yanez walk out the back door with the company’s power washer around 2:30 p.m., police said. The man and a co-worker caught up with Yanez and held him for police in the 4400 block of North Ravenswood.
He was charged with misdemeanor theft and released on a recognizance bond.
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| His “octopus” mugshot |
After the power washer incident, a worker at the art school recognized Yanez as the man who stole a $1,200 octopus sculpture from the school on May 8th, police said. Police went to Yanez’s home on May 18th and arrested him. While in his home, police recovered a driver’s license that was reported stolen by a Lakeview woman.
Yanez was charged with one count of felony theft and one count of misdemeanor theft of lost or mislaid property. He was released on a recognizance bond.
In February 2016, Yanez was sentenced to two-year’s probation after he pleaded guilty to shoplifting $680 in merchandise from a Sears store in Portage Park.
Yanez’s next court date is July 30th—for the octopus case.
