Chicago police arrested Cary Mamola last week for, as a Cook County judge put it, a “miniature crime spree across [the] 3200 North Broadway area.” It was the 14th time CPD has arrested Mamola this year and the 40th time he’s been arrested since August 2014, according to police department records.
A little before 3 p.m. on September 21, Mamola threatened to punch a female manager who confronted him for shoplifting at Walgreens, 3201 North Broadway, officials said. He ran out of the store with the beer and dipped into the Gap store across the street. There, he allegedly stole $135 worth of clothing.
Police arrested him nearby, carrying the beer and the clothes, which still had price tags attached, prosecutors said.
Despite his many arrests, Mamola has only been convicted of one felony, a theft in 2015. He’s been convicted of 16 misdemeanors for things like assault, trespassing, and retail theft.
His defense attorney said he is an unemployed high school graduate who lives with roommates.
Judge Charles Beach ordered him to pay a $1,000 bail deposit to get out of jail on the new shoplifting and assault charges, plus another $4,000 for violating the terms of a conditional discharge he received for trespassing.
Three days before the Walgreens and Gap incidents, Mamola was arrested three blocks north on Broadway for assault at Jewel-Osco. CPD records show he walked out of the police station on his own recognizance less than three hours later.
He was arrested three times in August—for trespassing at a hotel in the Loop, trespassing at O’Hare, and on a warrant, according to CPD records.
In May, Chicago police arrested Mamola five times: trespassing at a Mag Mile hotel, retail theft in Wicker Park, trespassing on the Clybourn corridor, trespassing at another Loop hotel, and for a warrant.
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