It seems like just last week we told you about Cary Mamola, who was arrested by Chicago police for the 14th time this year after allegedly going on a “miniature crime spree” in Lakeview.
That’s because it was just last week. And Mamola has been quite busy since then. He pleaded guilty to the Lakeview charge, got out of jail, then got arrested by Chicago police again at the Merchandise Mart. Happy 15th, we guess.
To get you up to speed, Mamola was arrested on September 18 for assault at Jewel-Osco, 3531 North Broadway in Boystown. He walked out of the police station on his own recognizance less than 3 hours later.
Then, just 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.
Mamola was on a conditional discharge for trespassing at the time of those incidents. Last week, he pleaded guilty to retail theft for the Walgreens and Gap incident. A judge sentenced him to yet another conditional discharge, and he went free last Monday.
Then, a little after midnight on Thursday, police arrested Mamola after Merchandise Mart representatives said they had told him “on multiple occasions” that he was not allowed on the property, prosecutor Jeff Allen said. Before he was arrested, though, Mamola also damaged several filing cabinets belonging to the Mart, according to Allen.
Mamola, 44, is now charged with criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing.
“I would note,” Allen told Judge Barbara Dawkins during Mamola’s latest bail hearing, “that the defendant has no less—and I say no less ‘cuz I stopped counting at 27—misdemeanor convictions, including seven from this year alone.”
He also has five felony convictions, Allen said, for burglary, attempted escape, escape, theft, and criminal damage. Mamola has also forfeited bond by failing to appear in court “no less than 14” times, Allen told the judge. “I stopped counting at 14.”
Assistant Public Defender Michael Grady said Mamola is unemployed and lives with roommates.
Judge Dawkins set bail on the new charges at $5,000 with electronic monitoring, meaning Mamola must pay a $500 bail deposit to get out of jail. He will earn a $30 daily credit for every day spent in custody. She also ordered him to pay $300 bail deposits on each conditional discharge matter he violated.
He’s due back in court on Monday. And Tuesday.
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.
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.
Chicago police have arrested him 41 times since August 2014.
It’s not clear how—in a city and county where officials consistently talk about providing diversion programs, treatment options, mental health care, and social services as alternatives to jail—a person can get arrested so many times without being successfully connected with those programs.
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