Prosecutors say a Chicago man tried to steal a high-rise apartment building’s ATM by tying it to a vehicle with straps, but he gave up after the straps broke. He allegedly returned to the same building a few weeks later and tore a hole in the wall to steal packages from a mailroom closet.
But, while he was careful to wear a mask, he failed to cover up distinctive tattoos on his hands, which cops recognized as they reviewed surveillance video.
Arvin Basilio, 33, is charged with two counts of burglary, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, and misdemeanor theft.
On September 1, Basilio and three other men broke through the back door of an apartment complex in the 7000 block of North Kedzie and attempted to wrestle the ATM off its mounting, according to prosecutors.
But when the machine refused to budge, the men allegedly tied straps around it and attempted to pull it off its mountings with a vehicle. They gave up when the straps broke.
Three weeks later, Basilio and another man returned to the building and tried to pry open the package room door, prosecutors said. But they couldn’t get it open.
So, the duo allegedly kicked and punched a hole in a wall next to the door and climbed through the hole to access the room and steal packages.
Surveillance cameras recorded both incidents, and Basilio’s hand tattoos were visible in the footage, prosecutors said. He also lowered his mask during the second break-in.
Things got worse for Basilio when police arrested him outside his home Monday.
Officers who staked out the house saw him get into the driver’s seat of a gold 2002 Toyota that had been reported stolen in August, prosecutors said. The cops arrested him before he drove away. Investigators say they found two stolen license plates from two different cars inside the stolen car.
Prosecutors said Basilio told police that a mechanic had given him the car three days earlier and showed him how to start it by touching wires together under the steering column. He also allegedly identified himself in surveillance images from the two break-ins.
He was convicted of two burglaries in 2019 and of possessing meth in 2017, officials said.
Judge Maryam Ahmad ordered him to pay $20,000 toward bail to go home on electronic monitoring.