CHICAGO — A prolific mail thief was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for repeatedly burglarizing Uptown apartment building mailrooms last winter. Unfortunately, officials say Imer Resumovic participated in a violent home invasion while awaiting trial on the charges.
Resumovic, 37, was allegedly carrying 97 pieces of mail and a counterfeit U.S. Postal Service master key when Chicago police stopped him for a warrant investigation near Broadway and Addison on January 12. CPD said he also had five credit cards and an ID issued in other people’s names.
Further investigation led officials to file burglary charges, accusing him of breaking into a residential mailroom in the 4200 block of North Hazel on December 20, December 29, December 30, January 7, January 10, and January 12. He was also accused of targeting a mailroom in the 4300 block of North Sheridan on December 28 and 29.
On Wednesday, Resumovic pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and one count of aggravated identity theft of a victim older than 60, according to court records. Judge Peggy Chiampas sentenced him to four concurrent five-year sentences. Prosecutors dropped a host of other felonies that he faced.
Barely three months after being put on pretrial release in the mailroom burglary cases, Resumovic allegedly participated in a violent home invasion in Joliet.
Prosecutors said Resumovic, dressed in black, wearing a police-style tactical vest, and “claiming to be police,” held a man at gunpoint early on April 1. Police found two bullet holes in the victim’s kitchen, The Patch reported. Officials said Resumovic’s gun fired as the victim disarmed him and hit Resumovic in the head. Two other men have also been charged with the home invasion.
At the time of the mailroom burglaries, Resumovic was on probation for burglarizing a Walgreens in Boystown in March 2021. Chicago police responded to the store at 3646 North Broadway after its security service saw someone break through the front door around 2:15 a.m.
When officers arrived, they saw Resumovic breaking glass inside the store with a hammer, prosecutors said. He ran when he saw police, but the cops said they found him hiding under a sink with a book bag containing $3,169 worth of liquor, cigarettes, and Apple products.
During his initial bail hearing, prosecutors said Resumovic had visited the store earlier in the week and “he was angry because he couldn’t afford anything.” Resumovic told police he planned to sell the merchandise to make money, prosecutors alleged.
