A Chicago man accused of a string of North Side burglaries just months after going to prison for similar crimes is missing after being released from custody twice within weeks.
Timothy McClellan’s latest troubles trace back to March 31, when someone stole mail from a building in the 4500 block of North Ashland. Days later, on April 5, a thief stole a tabernacle from a Lincoln Park Catholic organization in the 400 block of West Deming. On April 19, a burglar hit a building in the 3000 block of North Southport, making off with a bicycle, mail, and residents’ packages.
A CPD report says cops reviewed surveillance footage of those incidents and recognized the thief as McClellan. A patrol unit caught up with the 35-year-old on August 14 in the 1200 block of West Wilson and took him into custody. Inside his backpack, police said, were a replica Colt firearm, three screwdrivers, bolt cutters, pliers, a wood chisel, and eight sets of keys. In his front pants pocket, officers allegedly found a wallet containing seven credit cards belonging to seven different people.
Prosecutors initially filed a petition to keep McClellan in custody, but court records show they withdrew the paperwork, and he was released during his first court appearance on August 16. He didn’t show up for his second court date five days later.
But he wasn’t in the wind for long. Within a week, officers spotted him riding a bicycle in the 4500 block of North Lake Shore Drive and took him into custody. This time, his backpack contained bolt cutters, two wrenches, wire cutters, and a screwdriver, police said. Officers also allegedly found identification documents and credit cards belonging to several other men in his pockets. Prosecutors also charged McClellan with a July 31 burglary at a residential building in the 4600 block of North Magnolia, where a bicycle was stolen.
Hauled back into court, Judge Deidre Dyer detained McClellan on the outstanding warrant and for violating his pretrial release conditions. But he was subsequently released again, and he has not returned since. Court records show there are four outstanding warrants for his arrest.
McClellan’s latest arrests come less than a year after he went to prison for burglarizing a Lincoln Park business and possessing a firearm at the Lake Red Line station. Both sentences were satisfied by time served and the state’s automatic 50% good-conduct credit, court records show. During the same proceeding in which McClellan pleaded guilty, prosecutors dropped multiple other burglary cases dating back to 2022, including another Lincoln Park business burglary and the break-in of a Boystown apartment building’s mailroom, according to court records.
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