CHICAGO – A longtime burglar who went to prison for stealing Newport cigarettes from a North Side liquor store and is currently on probation for stealing Newports from a West Loop store is now charged with burglarizing a sporting goods store in Wicker Park.
Chicago police responding to a burglar alarm at Lids, 1543 North Damen, discovered shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday that the front door was broken and merchandise was missing, according to a CPD report.
A CPD surveillance cameraman reviewed footage that showed a man using a crowbar to break the store’s glass door. According to the report, he went inside and left three minutes later with a plastic bag full of items.
The camera unit monitored the burglar until he arrived at the Damen Blue Line platform, the report said. Based on a description provided by supervisors, officers went to the platform and arrested the only person there: 54-year-old Michael Coleman. According to the police, he matched the description of the burglar.
Officers also found a black plastic bag on the stairs leading to the platform, the report said. It contained 52 hats worth $2,274, eight sports jerseys worth $436, and a locked cash register containing an undisclosed amount of cash, police alleged.
Prosecutors have charged him with one count of burglary.
Coleman will remain in jail until at least December 12. That’s the day he will see the judge who gave him probation on July 30, Judge Arthur Willis.
That case stems from a July 2023 burglary at Walgreens, 1051 West Randolph. A security company saw a burglar break the front window and crawl inside around 1 a.m., according to a CPD report. The prowler went behind the counter, took 16 packs of Newports and escaped through the back door.
Officers observed Coleman walking in the lanes near Madison and Sangamon. They allegedly found 15 packs of Newports, a surgical mask and a baseball cap in his backpack. They discovered a sixteenth pack of Newports in his pocket.
In October 2014, police arrested Coleman at the Irving Park Brown Line station shortly after he threw a rock through the glass of a nearby liquor store. He entered the store and took $1,089 in cash and 19 packs of Newports, prosecutors said at the time.
Less than 30 days later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison, a harsh sentence given because of his criminal background. That background included a six-year prison sentence for burglary in 2009 and eight years for multiple burglaries in 2005, according to court records.
If Judge Willis allows Coleman to go home, he will have to observe a nightly curfew in the new case.
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