When car thieves stole a woman’s SUV with her dog inside from the Loop last week, it started a series of strange events that ended when cops arrested a man who allegedly offered to sell the car and the dog back to the victim for $350. Unfortunately, the dog has not been found, prosecutors said.
A police spokesperson said the woman’s Toyota RAV4 was stolen on the 600 block of South Wabash between 8 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. last Wednesday, March 2.
Her white, 7-year-old Shih Tzu was in the car along with her laptop, business checkbook, and other property when the thieves took it.
The next afternoon, by sheer coincidence, a man who had his car stolen on the South Side last month saw his stolen vehicle parked outside Foot Locker, 26 South State, with three men inside. He called the police.
Michael Wilson, 22, was charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle. In addition to having the keys to the man’s stolen car, he also had a credit card and ID in his hand that belong to the woman whose RAV4 and Shih Tzu, Lily, were taken the day before, prosecutors said.
In another coincidence, prosecutors said Wilson’s front seat passenger, Reggie Brown, tried to cash one of the woman’s business checks made out to his name at a currency exchange after her car was stolen the day before. Brown is charged with felony forgery and criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Police also recovered the woman’s laptop, phone, and checkbook from the man’s stolen car, prosecutors said.
On Friday, while Wilson and Brown were in police custody, the woman whose dog and RAV4 were still missing started to receive calls from a number she didn’t recognize, prosecutors said.
She answered one of the calls, and a man’s voice offered to sell back her RAV4 and her dog for $350. The woman agreed to meet the man at McDonald’s, 2525 South Martin Luther King Drive, to make the deal.
Then, she called the police.
Police arrested Jerry Kimble when he arrived with the woman’s car, prosecutors said. Her Shih Tzu was not found.
Kimble, 30, is an eight-time convicted felon on parole for four felony narcotics cases, prosecutors said. He has previous felony convictions for aggravated battery, escape, and armed robbery.
His defense attorney said he works as a truck loader for FedEx Ground.
Prosecutors charged him with possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Judge Kelly McCarthy ordered him held on $50,000 bail. He must post 10% of that and go on electronic monitoring to get out of jail.
Wilson, who allegedly had some of the woman’s property while driving the other stolen car, was held on $45,000 bail by Judge Charles Beach. His defense attorney said he is married and has three kids between 1 and 3 years.
Beach also set bail for Brown at $45,000 but ordered him to go onto electronic monitoring upon release. Brown’s defense attorney said he attends Harold Washington College and has a child on the way.
Like most people, Beach wanted to know where the Shih Tzu was.
“What happened to the dog?” Beach asked prosecutors after hearing the allegations against Wilson and Brown.
“I do not have any information as to what happened to the dog,” an assistant state’s attorney replied.
