Fabian Jeffers had nearly 90 cases in his Cook County criminal court file, including 16 felony matters, when Chicago police found him sleeping at a donut shop, surrounded by electronics he allegedly stole from a nearby business. Prosecutors didn’t ask a judge to hold him, so he was released. And he hasn’t been seen since.
It all began around 8 a.m. on February 28, when a business in the 300 block of West Institute Place reported a burglary. Someone had made off with a computer, a Chromebook, an iMac, and other electronics valued at roughly $8,300, according to a CPD report.
A company representative quickly located the property: Jeffers was sleeping with it at the Dunkin’, 309 West Chicago Avenue, the police report said.
Officers arrested Jeffers, 59, at the scene. A search of his jacket turned up two screwdrivers and a metal baton, which the police report characterized as “burglary tools.”
The following day in court, prosecutors did not ask Judge D’Anthony Thedford to detain Jeffers pending trial. He was released with instructions to return in five days. He did not return, so Judge Anthony Calabrese issued a warrant for his arrest, and court records show it remains active.
Jeffers’ criminal history in Cook County stretches back to the Bush administration. No. The other Bush administration.
Among his prior cases, court records show a 1992 cocaine manufacturing and delivery charge that resulted in probation, a 1992 robbery conviction that carried a three-year sentence, a 1993 unlawful use of a weapon by a felon conviction resulting in three years, and a 1995 burglary conviction resulting in three years. A 1997 burglary brought seven years, and a 2004 felon in possession of a firearm conviction resulted in four years.
More recently, judges have shown increasing leniency. A 2016 burglary was reduced to theft and resulted in a four-year sentence. A 2015 burglary was reduced to misdemeanor theft with 364 days time served. A 2019 aggravated battery of a merchant charge resulted in a two-year sentence satisfied by time served.
The hugs and rainbows approach continues into this decade. A 2023 narcotics conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor, resulting in 20 days time served. A 2024 residential burglary charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, resulting in 75 days time served. A 2025 felony drug possession case was reduced to a misdemeanor which, combined with a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, resulted in 109 days time served.
Jeffers now faces a new burglary charge in the February 28 case, assuming he is located and brought before a judge again.
