7-time felon lugged a safe out of an Edgewater bar, came back 2 hours later to pick it up: prosecutors

Chicago — Prosecutors say a seven-time felon broke into an Edgewater bar, lugged a safe from the basement, then came back two hours later with his car to haul it away. And it was all caught on video.

Sargon Markos, 43, entered Whiskey Girl tavern, 6318 North Clark, by kicking in a glass panel around 2:15 a.m. on February 1, prosecutors said.

Sargon Markos | Cook County sheriff’s office

He allegedly loaded liquor into his backpack from a storage room before breaking through a basement door with a tool. Markos found a locked safe in the basement. He loaded it onto a dolly, hauled it upstairs, and hid it in the alley, prosecutors said.

Then, he walked away. Two hours later, surveillance cameras recorded him returning to the alley in a car with another man. Markos and his buddy allegedly loaded the safe into the car and drove away.

During a bail hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors did not say how police identified Markos. But officers arrested him earlier this week while driving the same car he allegedly used to pick up the safe.

Judge Barbara Dawkins ordered him to pay a $500 bail deposit to get out of jail.

Markos’ criminal background includes felony convictions for aggravated battery, threatening a public official, and several theft-related crimes, prosecutors said. In November 2020, he was charged with possessing burglary tools and retail theft in Park Ridge. And in 2017, he was accused of breaking into a Skokie hookah store.

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