When people talk about making the Magnificent Mile safe again, this is probably not what they have in mind.
A parolee with an extensive history of burglaries and thefts in the downtown area faces fresh charges after police saw him carrying a large safe down Michigan Avenue, prosecutors said. And, no, the safe does not belong to him.
But even though he is on parole for severely injuring a man during an attack in the Loop, the state is not thinking about sending him back to prison, records show.
Police were first called about a burglary in progress by the owner of a Streeterville nail salon who saw someone breaking into her shop via a remote surveillance feed around 5 a.m. last Thursday. The owner told police she saw a man force the door open, remove a safe from the office, and head west from Bedazzled, 221 East Grand, according to a CPD report and prosecutors.
Cops spotted 31-year-old Timothy Jackson strolling down Michigan Avenue near Tribune Tower a few minutes later. He was carrying a safe, they say. When Jackson saw the cops, he dropped the safe and ran, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis said. Cops arrested him nearby.
Prosecutors charged him with burglary and Judge Charles Beach said he must post a $4,500 deposit toward his $45,000 bail to get out of jail.
Jackson is on parole after being sentenced to prison for three felony cases last June.
In one case, he punched a man in the face on the 800 block of South Wabash, causing the victim to suffer facial and brain injuries, according to police records. He received 7½ years for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. He also received two four-year sentences for a pair of Loop burglaries.
He committed those crimes in 2015, then accrued years of credit while on electronic monitoring and in jail. State records show he spent less than two months in prison after time-served credits and having his sentenced reduced by 50% for “good behavior.”
Just three months before sentencing, police detained Jackson when he ran away from them as they tried to cite him for smoking at the Jackson Red Line station. He was wearing his electronic monitoring bracelet at the time. He allegedly wrapped it in aluminum foil to keep authorities from tracking his whereabouts.
Prosecutors charged him with escape, but later dropped the case.
Jackson also received two sentences of 4½ years for felony thefts in the Loop 2014. He got two years for theft from a person in 2013 and four years for theft in 2011. Kalliantasis, the prosecutor who detailed the lastest charges against him last week, said Jackson was also convicted of burglary as a juvenile.
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