Chicago police recovered nearly $270,000 worth of merchandise when they arrested seven members of a crash-and-grab crew that killed a man while fleeing on the Magnificent Mile this week, prosecutors said. But many accomplices remain at large, along with another $422,000 in purses and other luxury goods stolen from the Louis Vuitton store at 919 North Michigan Avenue.
Prosecutors said at least a dozen people pulled up to the store in six stolen vehicles just before 5 a.m. Thursday. Videos show a pickup truck backing up and ramming the store’s windows, allowing the crew to gain entry. The theft crew then loaded a large amount of merchandise into the stolen vehicles and fled.
One of those vehicles was a black Kia allegedly driven by 30-year-old Dejuan Wingard. Prosecutors said Wingard sped down Michigan Avenue at 77 mph, blowing through red lights until he slammed into a Honda CR-V driven by 40-year-old Mark Arceta of Skokie. Arceta had a green light at Ohio Street and was heading to his final shift at Northwestern University before starting paternity leave. He was killed in the crash. His wife gave birth to their son soon after.
Another getaway vehicle, an Infiniti, fled police down Lake Shore Drive before jumping a concrete barrier and blowing out its tires near Millennium Park. Prosecutors said two occupants, 22-year-old Anthony Hemphill and 19-year-old Keith Perkins, tried to run but were caught. Two others escaped.
All seven men face charges of murder during the commission of a forcible felony, burglary, and felony theft. Wingard is also charged with reckless homicide. Prosecutors said Perkins briefly slipped out of his handcuffs at a police station and fled, leading to an additional escape charge.
Hemphill, Perkins, 37-year-old Alton Jackson, and 26-year-old Harvey Fisher were were ordered detained on Saturday afternoon. The three other defendants remain hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Detention hearings will be scheduled once they are released.
“This case is a heartbreaking example of the threat that these organized retail theft operations pose to the entire community,” State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said. “Not only is the economic vitality of our city compromised by these crimes, but these offenders pose a physical danger to every one of us who live and work here. We will not tolerate it, and we will continue to seek detention and use all of our prosecutorial tools to bring accountability and appropriate charges to those who commit these brazen attacks.”
An online fundraiser for Acosta’s family had raised more than $21,000 as of Saturday evening, with nearly $14,000 of that raised since Saturday morning.
