A 33-year-old man with a lengthy criminal history has been given an eight-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to burglarizing five North Side homes and robbing one of his victims.
Malcolm Junious pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of residential burglary and one count of aggravated robbery in connection with crimes committed between June 15 and October 21, 2025.
The first reported burglary occurred in the 800 block of West Cuyler Avenue, where residents discovered that a handgun, a Nintendo Switch, $10,000 in cash, and $75,000 worth of jewelry were missing. Surveillance footage showed the burglar carrying a white clipboard, and a CPD officer who reviewed the video recognized Junious from a previous arrest. Investigators later linked Junious to the burglary through pawnshop records and GPS data from his phone, prosecutors said.
Detectives came to suspect Junious was behind a string of burglaries, and a court authorized a “pen register” for his phone. The surveillance tool records numbers dialed or received by a phone and can help investigators monitor its activity in real time. Using the data, detectives tracked Junious’s phone traveling toward Chicago on October 21, 2025, the same day several burglaries were reported across the North Side.
In one of those incidents, in the 1600 block of West Rascher Avenue, a 32-year-old woman reported that a masked man confronted her inside her home, claimed to have a gun, and warned her not to “make” him hurt her. Another woman heard the victim screaming and began calling 911, but the intruder knocked the phone from her hand, stomped on it, and fled with a jewelry box, prosecutors said.
Police tracking Junious through his phone and license plate readers located his Kia near the 1400 block of West Ardmore Avenue, but lost sight of the vehicle for about 30 minutes.
During that time, a woman returned to her home in the 1500 block of West Ardmore Avenue and discovered that someone had climbed exterior scaffolding to enter her apartment. The intruder stole a backpack, jewelry, watches, and a keepsake of her deceased cat.
Within two hours, another resident in the 5300 block of North Paulina Street reported that someone had entered through an unlocked rear window and stolen a MacBook, a Bluetooth speaker, and a Nintendo Switch.
Officers eventually spotted the Kia again as it traveled south on Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville. Using a helicopter and ground units, police followed the vehicle until Junious got out in the 7100 block of South Coles Avenue. They found Junious hiding beneath a barbecue grill cover on a back stairwell. He had burglary proceeds in his possession, police said.
Judge Mariano Reyna accepted Junious’s guilty pleas Friday and sentenced him to eight years on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. He must serve 50% of the sentence. With 432 days of credit for time spent in the Cook County Jail, Junious has a little more than three years left to serve in prison.
Junious’s criminal history includes a burglary in Wrigleyville during the height of the pandemic in September 2020 when an alert neighbor saw him crawl into a home in the 3700 block of North Wilton Avenue on a Friday afternoon. The witness called 911, and CPD officers arrived quickly enough to see Junious still inside the apartment. When officers ordered him to exit through the back door, he ran out the front door instead. Police arrested him nearby.
Prosecutors said Junious’s criminal record also includes felony convictions for theft in 2014, residential burglary in 2012, robbery in 2010, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle in 2010.
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