CHICAGO — A shoplifter who got away by aiming a gun at two security guards and squeezing the trigger as they tried to stop him from stealing from a Home Depot store was identified because he left his phone lying on the store’s floor, prosecutors say. Fortunately, the gun did not fire.
Fidel Calvillo, 42, has four previous felony convictions, including for firing guns in 2005 and 2011, officials said. He’s now charged with two counts of armed robbery.
Home Depot employees saw Calvillo stuff nail guns into a satchel at the chain’s 3500 North Kimball location on March 2, prosecutor Daniel Carmody said during his bail hearing Friday. Two security officers tried to stop him near the door, but Calvillo began struggling with the officers.
He eventually pulled a firearm from his jacket, pointed it at both guards, and pulled the trigger, Carmody said. The weapon made a clicking noise, but it did not fire. Calvillo escaped on a bicycle.
But Chicago police recovered a phone that the shoplifter dropped while struggling with the security guards. Detectives secured a search warrant for the device. According to Carmody, they found pictures of Calvillo and a CashApp account in his name on the phone.
Based on that information, investigators included Calvillo’s picture in a photo line-up, and both security guards picked him out.
In addition to his two convictions for aggravated discharge of firearms, Calvillo was convicted of aggravated battery in 2011 and criminal sexual assault in 2015, according to Carmody.
Judge Maryam Ahmad said Calvillo must pay a $25,000 bail deposit to get out of jail.
Last month, we reported that the Kimball Avenue Home Depot location ranked among the ten retail locations citywide with the most retail theft arrests in 2022.
Overall, Home Depot stores accounted for 86 shoplifting arrests across Chicago last year, the sixth-most of any company, according to city records.