A suspected mail thief who unwisely jumped from a third-floor apartment window to escape from Chicago cops last February received a two-year probation sentence on Wednesday.
Jamal Campbell, 31, pleaded guilty to burglary and escape by a felon in exchange for the sentence from Judge Maria Kuriakos-Ciesil. She ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service, too.
Chicago cops responded to the 1200 block of West 54th Street around 12:30 p.m. on February 4, 2024, after 911 callers reported that a man was walking in and out of residential buildings. At least one caller saw the man use a postal service master key to open a bank of mailboxes.
The officers quickly located Campbell in the vestibule of a building. He was sorting through mail from an open mailbox, according to their report.
Campbell bolted to the third floor and the pursuing officers reported hearing a loud banging noise and the sound of glass breaking as he kicked in a vacant apartment’s door and jumped from a bedroom window.
When the officers looked out the window, they “observed the offender on the ground due to him jumping out of the window,” said the report. While one officer tended to Campbell and called for paramedics, others located a black bag in the apartment that allegedly contained a postal service master key and a bundle of mail.
Campbell was hospitalized with serious injuries after the plunge.
Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped a third case he faced involving illegal possession of debit cards and identity theft.
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