Chicago — Never give a cop a fake ID. And if you do, make sure the person who’s on the ID doesn’t have an outstanding warrant. Those are just two of the many lessons to be learned from James Ferguson’s experience with Chicago police in Uptown this week.
Cops responding to a call of trespassing in progress in the 900 block of West Foster around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday allegedly found Ferguson, 40, pushing a cart down the street with a 50-inch TV inside a plastic tub.
They stopped to talk with him since he matched the description of the trespasser.
He gave them an ID, which the cops ran. When the name came back with an active arrest warrant, Ferguson admitted that he wasn’t the guy on the identification, prosecutors said.
The police allegedly saw a property tag on the TV that said, “Property of 5101 North Sheridan,” a building connected to the address on Foster where the trespassing call originated.
Prosecutors said officers went to the Sheridan address, spoke with a building manager, and recovered video that showed Ferguson prying his way into the building and removing the TV from a wall.
Ferguson, who was convicted of attempted murder in 2001, is a five-time felon who’s currently on parole for Class X armed habitual criminal.
He is charged with burglary and misdemeanor counts of obstructing identification and possessing a false identification.
Judge Susana Ortiz said Ferguson would be released on electronic monitoring without any cash bail payment. But he is being held in jail without bail right now while the Illinois Department of Corrections reviews his parole status.
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