CHICAGO — Prosecutors are accusing a man of posing as an exterminator to steal property from an elderly couple’s home on the Far North Side.
So-called “ruse burglars” pose as utility crews, cops, city inspectors, and other service workers to gain access to homes. They usually target older senior citizens, who may be more trusting or easier to trick than younger residents.
Chicago police say Michael Ely, 47, posed as a pest control technician hired by the city to spray a home in the 6200 block of North St. Louis around 11 a.m. on March 19. An 85-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman live there, a CPD report said.
After Ely left, the victims realized that their jewelry and about $5,500 cash were missing, according to police.
Detectives secured a neighbor’s surveillance video and distributed images from the footage across the city and suburbs. A Skokie Police Department detective who has had “numerous previous encounters” with Ely recognized him, the report said.
Cops arrested Ely and impounded his truck, which police say resembles the burglar’s vehicle.
Judge Antara Rivera ordered Ely detained pending trial on a charge of burglary.
Court records show Ely received probation in May 2024 after pleading guilty to burglary and a weapons charge.
In that case, a man living in the 6000 block of South Rutherford saw Ely walking out of his neighbor’s home with a safe on May 20, 2023, according to a separate CPD report. The neighbor confronted Ely, who allegedly pointed a gun at him and fled.
Ely has been charged with burglary and attempted burglary several other times since 2008, but prosecutors dropped nearly all of those cases. The others were reduced to theft, and none resulted in any prison time.
Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
