Prosecutors charged two men participating in two different raids on retail stores in the city early Monday. During a bond court hearing for one of the men, a prosecutor said a group of people burglarized the business “as a result of social unrest stemming from the death of Minnesota resident Daunte Wright.”
In the higher-profile case, 27-year-old Kendrick Adams was charged with burglary for his alleged role in a raid on Nordstrom, 55 East Grand, around 1:38 a.m. Monday.
Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Burkhardt said cops who responded to a burglary in progress call arrived in time to see a group of people running out of the store with merchandise in their hands. Everyone got away except Adams, who was caught on the 400 block of North Wabash as he tried to escape with six Prada purses and a Prada hat worth a total of $6,500, according to Burkhardt and a CPD statement.
Surveillance footage of the burglary shows Adams entering through a broken window and taking the merchandise, Burkhardt said. Chicago police later released a video of the break-in as investigators try to track down seven more suspects.
“Nothing good happens after, my dad used to say, 10 o’clock,” Judge David Navarro said after hearing the allegations. “Let’s say midnight. Certainly after 1 a.m.” Navarro then ordered him held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Adams will need to post a $5,000 deposit to get out of jail.
Also Tuesday, prosecutors charged 48-year-old George Reynolds with participating in an organized raid on Citi Trends, a clothing store at 4648 South Halsted. The break-in resulted from “unrest” that Burkhardt linked to Wright’s death during a traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis over the weekend.
Burkhardt said a group of people rammed the store’s entrance with a vehicle early Monday so a group of people could enter. As police pulled up to the scene, they saw “multiple people” entering the store and fleeing in vehicles with the store’s merchandise, he said.
Cops pulled Reynolds over as he left the store’s parking lot and found $1,028 worth of Citi Trends merchandise in his vehicle, Burkhard said. Officers recovered 24 pairs of pants, three purses, four pairs of shoes, and a wallet from Reynolds’ car, he said. All of the merchandise allegedly had Citi Trends price tags attached.
Navarro set Reynolds’ bail at $5,000. He’ll need to post $500 to get out of jail.
Monday’s break-in came after an evening of unrest in suburban Minneapolis as reports emerged about Wright being fatally shot by police during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon. The Brooklyn Center (MN) Police Department later said their officer accidentally shot Wright with her gun when she meant to taze him. She and the city’s police chief have resigned.
The trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis cop who’s charged with killing George Floyd last year, has also been underway in that city.
In Chicago, tensions were high as residents awaited the release of CPD bodyworn camera footage from the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Little Village on March 29. After Toledo’s family viewed police video of the shooting, the city on Tuesday evening announced that the footage would not be “immediately released” at their request.
After the Nordstrom break-in, police supervisors ordered the temporary shut-down of some streets, including parts of Michigan Avenue and interstate feeder ramps. Officers reported seeing a few groups of people and suspicious vehicles scattered around the Mag Mile area after the break-in, but no further incidents were reported.
Later in the day, CPD department canceled days off for thousands of its officers beginning Tuesday. The city also moved snowplows, dump trucks, and other equipment into strategic positions around the downtown area and some neighborhoods.
Authorities have worked to create effective anti-looting plans since a night of social media-fueled burglaries, and street clashes decimated the downtown area on August 10. And they have carried out multiple dry runs of their plans, most recently on March 31 — just hours after Chicago police identified Adam Toledo’s body.
