A five-time convicted burglar is charged with breaking into a Logan Square bar just three weeks after he burglarized a convenience store and then failed to appear in court, according to court records. He got arrested because the bar manager stayed late that night to train new employees.
Ron Humphrey, 32, was first arrested on April 2 after prosecutors say he used a crowbar to pry open the locked front doors of the 7-Eleven at 200 South Racine Avenue around 3 a.m. and stole a cash register containing about $88. The store is open around the clock, but the doors are secured at night.
Humphrey allegedly came back inside for a second register, but left when he spotted an employee who had been hiding. The employee had already triggered a holdup alarm, and when officers searched the area, they found Humphrey hiding under a car in a nearby parking lot.
Prosecutors did not seek to have him detained following his arrest, and he was released. He missed his first court date on April 9, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, records show.
With that warrant still outstanding, Humphrey allegedly struck again. Around 3:30 a.m. on April 23, he used a crowbar to pry open the front door of Federales Tacos & Tequila, 2471 North Milwaukee Avenue, and tried to force his way into an office area, prosecutors said. The establishment’s manager was inside the office, already on the phone with 911.
A CPD report said the manager had stayed late to train new employees when he heard the motion alarm trigger, locked himself in the office, and watched Humphrey enter wearing a hoodie and a surgical mask, and carrying a crowbar.
Humphrey fled on a bicycle, but police tracked him using CPD surveillance cameras and took him into custody.
He is now charged with burglary in the Federales case. Prosecutors asked Judge Rivanda Doss Beal to detain him on the new charge. She declined, ordering him placed on electronic monitoring instead, but she did detain him for violating pretrial release conditions in the 7-Eleven case. He remains in custody on that violation.
Court records show Humphrey was convicted of burglary four times in 2014 and once more in 2019, and was convicted of felony theft in 2017.
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