One of the North Side’s most hapless criminals is back in custody, charged with burglary after police officers became suspicious of….his shoes. And a two-time convicted auto burglar is facing theft charges after he fell allegedly asleep in a stranger’s car.
A familiar face. And familiar shoes.
The 19th District police station’s recently-developed “Strategic Decision Support Center” (SDSC) scored another win after patrol officers used its information to arrest a burglary suspect based on the shoes he was wearing.
The SDSC monitors CPD surveillance cameras in real time and generates intelligence and reports for beat cops and detectives. Among those reports is a weekly email to officers that provides surveillance images of suspects and descriptions of their alleged crimes.
That weekly email came in handy as a patrol officer noticed a man wearing distinctive shoes on the 800 block of West Belmont around noon on Sept. 11. The shoes appeared to be the same kind worn by the man who broke into a Lincoln Park garage to steal a bike on Aug 24, the officer later wrote. And the officer just happened to recognize the man wearing the shoes as someone with a previous burglary arrest: 25-year-old Jonathan Hernandez.
Hernandez was stopped by the officer. Then, three other cops confirmed that he appeared to be the guy seen in the SDSC’s email. Police said Hernandez signed a photograph showing him committing the burglary and admitted to owning a red book bag seen in the surveillance image.
Prosecutors charged Hernandez with felony burglary of a garage on the 2500 block of North Wayne. An $800 bike was taken. Hernandez’s shoes were seized as evidence.
In September 2018, Hernandez was charged with threatening to shoot an off-duty police officer who confronted him as he burglarized the cop’s garage on the 3600 block of North Bell.
“I have a gun. I know where you live,” Hernandez allegedly told the officer. “Where do you work?”
Needless to say, Hernandez found out and he later pleaded guilty to that break-in as well as another in Lincoln Square. Judge Catherine Haberkorn in February gave him a sentence of 18 months probation on both cases.
Earlier last year, Hernandez unsatisfactorily completed a two year probation sentence that he received for stealing a bike from a garage in Lakeview.
In 2016, Hernandez was stopped by cops near Belmont and Sheffield after witnesses reported seeing him cutting locks off of a bicycle outside of Ann Sather Restaurant, 909 W. Belmont
When officers approached Hernandez he hopped off the bike and blurted out, “It’s not mine. I just stole it,” police said.
He was given a two day sentence in that case.
Hernandez is now being held without bail for probation violation.
Sleeping on the job
A convicted burglar was charged with possessing a pile of allegedly stolen property last week after a Lincoln Park woman reportedly found him sleeping behind the wheel of her car.
Police said a 27-year-old woman called them to the 1700 block of West Terra Cotta around 7 a.m. on Sept. 25 when she approached her vehicle and found the stranger asleep in the driver’s seat.
Officers took 24-year-old Armad Jones into custody on suspicion of criminal trespass to a vehicle. During a custodial search at the 19th District station, cops allegedly found a trove of “suspected proceeds from criminal activity.”
Among the items police said they recovered from Jones: four cellular phones, two portable speakers, seven rings of varying sizes, an iPod, a necklace, and two watches.
Prosecutors charged Jones with misdemeanor theft of lost or mislaid property and misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle. It was the third time that Jones was arrested and charged in connection with theft-related incidents during the month of September. He’s being held without bail.
Court records show Jones received a three year sentence in March 2017 for burglary of a vehicle in Oak Park. The year before that, he received a 142 day jail sentence for burglary of a vehicle in Chicago.
Ulta-mite timing
A Roseland man is facing a felony firearms charge after police allegedly found a loaded handgun in his car. And 18-year-old Tahir Thompson may have one of Chicago’s infamous shoplifting mobs to thank for his troubles.
Police swarmed the Lincoln Park area around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 11th after a shoplifting team stole piles of merchandise from the shelves at Ulta Beauty, 1000 West North Avenue. Officers scoured side streets and alleys, looking for the offenders.
Around 8:40 p.m., they stopped Thompson on the 1600 block of North Burling. During the stop, police allegedly found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun in Thompson’s car.
He was arrested and subsequently charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon. Judge Mary Marubio set bail at $3,000.
The Ulta Beauty thieves were not found.
