CHICAGO — A Venezuelan migrant has been detained as a safety threat, his 13th arrest in a year, after he allegedly tried to rob a woman of her bike in Streeterville.
A 43-year-old woman intervened when she saw Santiago Josue Baragas Rodriguez, 19, using a rock to try to break the lock of her electric bike in the 400 block of North City Front Place, a Chicago police report said. When she tried to take her bike back, Rodriguez swung the rock, slapped, and struggled with her, according to the report.
Police said a witness jumped in to disarm and detain Rodriguez until officers arrived.
Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman granted the state’s detention petition, noting that Rodriguez already has three misdemeanor cases pending and he’s been arrested in Chicago eleven times this year. Yet, the judge wrote, he “continues to commit crimes against citizens in Chicago.” The three pending cases all involve shoplifting allegations.
In fact, Cook County court records show Rodriguez has been arrested 13 times since November 1, 2023. Prosecutors dropped most of the cases even though Rodriguez failed to appear in court.
On May 20, a Macy’s employee accused him of shoplifting at the 111 North State store. He was on pretrial release at the time for allegedly shoplifting from Nordstrom Rack, 101 East Chicago, on May 3. Both cases were dropped.
He was arrested for trespassing on April 4 for allegedly refusing to leave the Northwestern Memorial Hospital parking garage. Prosecutors dropped the case on June 11.
He experienced better luck when he failed to appear in court three previous times, according to court records:
Rodriguez didn’t show up on May 16 for a case that accused him of assault and criminal trespassing in the Loop. Prosecutors dropped the charges in his absence because the alleged victim didn’t show up either.
He didn’t show up on March 7 for a case involving allegations that he shoplifted from Home Depot, 4555 South Western Avenue. Prosecutors dropped that case, too.
He didn’t show up on December 12, 2023, for a shoplifting case in which he was accused of stealing two pairs of shoes from Nordstrom Rack, 24 North State. Once again, prosecutors dropped the charge because the store did not send a representative to court.
