CHICAGO — A Venezuelan migrant with two outstanding arrest warrants for failing to appear in court for two pending felony cases in the Chicago area has surfaced in Ohio. And by “surfaced,” we mean he’s been sent to prison in Ohio for shoplifting merchandise worth more than $10,000 from a Kohl’s in suburban Toledo.
We mentioned Jhombeiker Martinez Quintero in September 2023 after he was charged with shoplifting clothing and shoes worth $1,102 from Macy’s on State Street. A warrant has been out for his arrest since he failed to appear in court (for the third time) on October 1, 2024.
It turns out that, just 11 days after he failed to appear for the Macy’s case, Martinez-Quintero, 22, and another man were arrested for stealing $10,199.99 worth of merchandise from that Kohl’s store in Perrysburg, Ohio, according to a local news outlet.
When Perrysburg Township cops spotted their getaway car, they pursued it across town until its three occupants bailed out, a twist no shoplifter would ever experience in pursuit-shy Chicago.
“Martinez-Quintero climbed several fences and fled into a heavily wooded area before being apprehended. The pursuing officer sustained several injuries and was transported from the scene by EMS,” according to the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune.
Earlier this week, Martinez-Quintero received a one-year prison sentence on charges of grand theft and obstructing official business, the outlet reported.
Court records show that Martinez-Quintero has another arrest warrant active in Cook County for a Morton Grove case in which he’s charged with felony mob action and retail theft.
In addition to his two active cases in Chicagoland, Martinez-Quintero has failed to appear in two other cases that are now closed: an August 2023 misdemeanor battery case that he failed to appear for twice and a September 2024 retail theft in River Forest. Prosecutors dropped both cases.
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