CHICAGO — A 16-time convicted felon may be heading back to prison after prosecutors accused him Wednesday of burglarizing three businesses in Logan Square and Bucktown.
Taiwan Lyda, 45, has already been sent to prison for 14 burglaries since 1995 and has been on parole for five of those since November, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
During a bail hearing yesterday, prosecutors accused him of committing three more break-ins since mid-March, all of which were captured on video:
At 4 a.m. on March 20, he broke through the back door at Art of Chicken, 2041 North Western Avenue, and pried open the cash register, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt said.
On April 18, he tried to pry open the back door at Central Park Bar, 2924 North Central Park, around 5 a.m., according to Dale-Schmidt. After successfully making his way through a door, he picked up and shook the registers but couldn’t open them. So, Dale-Schmidt said, he stole a bottle of tequila instead. It cost $2,000 to repair the doors.
About a minute later, he allegedly broke into Sipping Turtle Cafe, 2959 North Milwaukee, and took unspecified items.
Chicago police officers who were “familiar with” Lyda identified him from surveillance videos.
Saying Lyda carried out “nothing short of a one-person crime spree while on parole and 16 convictions,” Judge William Fahy ordered him to pay a $10,000 bail deposit to go home on electronic monitoring.
Before he can go home, though, he’ll have to meet with state officials who are reviewing his parole status in light of the new allegations.
In addition to his 14 burglary convictions, Lyda was convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2001 and possessing a stolen motor vehicle in 1995.