Lamont Gordon has been convicted of burglary 20 times since 1998 and he’s currently on parole for nine of them. Well, that’s not entirely true. One of his 20 convictions was for armed home invasion. Now, he’s accused of burglarizing a Lakeview tutoring center on Christmas Eve.
The owner of the business, located on the 3200 block of North Lakewood, received a burglary notification around 1:20 a.m. and checked the businesses’ security cameras remotely to see what was going on, Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle Gruca said.
He noticed the lights were on, but the owner didn’t see anyone inside the storefront. So, he pulled up archived footage to see if anything unusual happened. It did.
Gruca said the owner saw a man had been inside the business, so he called 911 and started driving to the scene. As he neared the business, he saw a man walking down the street who looked exactly like the guy who had been inside his offices, Grupca said. The business owner called police and directed them to the man — who is now known as Gordon.
Police allegedly found a screwdriver in Gordon’s pocket and the business owner confirmed that he is the person seen on security video of the burglary, Grupca said.
Prosecutors charged Gordon, 55, with burglary of a school or daycare and possessing burglary tools. Judge David Navarro set bail at $5,000. That means Grupca must pay a $500 deposit to get out of jail. He’s due back in court on December 30.
State records show Gordon was paroled in September 2019 on nine concurrent 14-year sentences for burglary. According to Illinois Department of Corrections data, he spent less than seven years in custody before authorities released him.
When he committed those nine burglaries, Gordon was on parole for two burglaries he committed in 2007 while he was on parole for a 2000 home invasion by force that he committed while on parole for a 1996 burglary that he committed while on parole for a 1992 burglary that he committed while on parole for 1990 burglary that he committed while on parole for five 1988 burglaries.
