[CWB] Why isn't he airdropped back at 25,000 ft?Carlos Mavarez Viloria, a resident of the Standard Club migrant shelter in downtown Chicago, has been arrested ten times since arriving in our fair city last summer, according to police and court records.
Viloria was consistently released from custody after each arrest, but that ended with the tenth case, his first felony, and he is currently living in the Cook County jail.
His first arrest came on July 12, when he was accused of stealing 10 Major League Baseball hats, watches, a backpack, and food, worth a total of $193, from Walmart in Evergreen Park.
A judge issued a warrant for his arrest when he failed to appear in court the next month. But he wasn’t on the lam for long. The following day, Chicago police arrested him after security at Macy’s, 111 South State, claimed he attempted to shoplift $158 worth of t-shirts.
The following month, he was detained for allegedly possessing a crack pipe in the Loop. Prosecutors dropped the charge, but a judge ordered officials to destroy the crack pipe, records show.
He received seven days for the Walmart case, but prosecutors dropped the other two matters.
On November 24, he was arrested for shoplifting and narcotics possession at Nordstrom Rack, 24 North State. Prosecutors dropped those charges less than three weeks later.
In February, police arrested him twice, the first time for allegedly shoplifting at the Walmart in Evergreen Park. He never showed up in court, and a warrant has been out for his arrest since May 3, according to court records.
Later that month, Chicago police arrested Viloria after a convenience store clerk in the Loop reported that Viloria pulled a gun on him and said something like, “I will shoot you.”
Officers found Viloria inside a different 7-Eleven with a gun-shaped cigarette lighter, according to a CPD report. Prosecutors dropped the case less than a month later.
On April 12, Chicago police officers tazed Viloria after he allegedly ran from them twice and resisted arrest when they tried to detain him for stealing two 23.5-ounce Four Loko from a downtown convenience store. The case is still pending.
His eighth arrest came on April 19, when a security guard told him he was not allowed inside Walgreens, 2 North State, and he entered anyway, a CPD report said. Prosecutors dropped the case on May 14.
Arrest number nine? That was on April 27 at Pritzker Park. The police said he was selling men’s clothing without a permit.
“I bought the clothes from another person, and I’m selling it to make money for my kids,” he allegedly told the officers. Prosecutors dropped the case the next day.
That brings us to arrest number ten. It happened on May 15 at Pritzker Park. Cook County sheriff’s deputies arrested him for several shoplifting cases filed by TJ Maxx, 11 North State, according to court records.
Viloria pushed, struggled, and fell to the ground with one of the deputies. A second deputy suffered hand and arm injuries, the report said.
In addition to felony aggravated battery of a peace officer, Viloria was charged with resisting, reckless conduct, and shoplifting merchandise worth $450 from TJ Maxx, including men’s clothing and a suitcase, according to court filings. The alleged thefts occurred on April 9, April 25, April 30, and May 7.
Judge Ankur Srivastava issued a ruling allowing Viloria’s release under electronic monitoring. So far, though, that has not happened.
In other “new neighbor” developments:
- Giovanny Tovar, a 44-year-old Venezuelan living at the Standard Club shelter, faces felony criminal damage charges after he allegedly threw an object and shattered the window of a Chicago police squad car posted outside the shelter on May 19, according to a CPD report.
- Pedro Izquiel Omana, a 37-year-old Standard Club resident, is charged with operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise for allegedly shoplifting from three different stores in Orland Park on May 11.