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Alleged ringleader of smash and grab crew charged

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Illinois

Charges were filed Tuesday against a man accused of heading a crew that pulled off at least nine smash-and-grab burglaries in recent months, targeting a range of stores and in one case leaving stolen cash registers strewn across Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s tony Gold Coast street.

Tacarre Harper, 27, from South Austin, was charged with nine felony counts of burglary, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He had several outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest.

An internal Chicago police memo says Harper was identified as a member of “an organized group” that carried out nine overnight burglaries between last November and last month.

Harper used “blunt objects to break windows or applied force on the entry” and removed merchandise or cash, according to a police report. The total estimated loss was $175,000, according to the memo.

Much of that - $150,000 - came from two burglaries at the high-end Burberry store on the Magnificent Mile on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. The day of the second burglary at Burberry, the crew left cash registers and “burglary proceeds” near Pritzker’s doorstep after earlier hitting two markets in Lake View, the police documents show.

* Normally, I wouldn’t do a post on a local crime like this, but IRMA sent out a release…

In response to reports that the alleged ringleader of nine smash-and-grab retail crimes in recent months was arrested by law enforcement officials, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association released the following statement:

“On behalf of retailers across Illinois, we would like to thank law enforcement officials including the Chicago Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service and Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force for identifying and apprehending the alleged ringleader of nine smash-and-grab schemes across Chicago, which resulted in losses totaling $175,000. Organized retail crime has plagued neighborhoods throughout Chicago and communities across Illinois. We hope this is one of many actions demonstrating these crimes will not be tolerated and those who organize and carry them out will be pursued and aggressively prosecuted,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO, IRMA. “This case also underlines what is required to address these crimes. That’s why we have partnered with Attorney General Kwame Raoul to introduce one of the most comprehensive legislative proposals in the nation to address organized retail crime, providing additional resources to investigate and prosecute these criminal rings, prevent illicit trade and keep employees and customers safe. We look forward to working with legislators in a bipartisan manner to implement these safeguards and curb these malicious crimes.”

More information about this proposal is available at www.irma.org.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 5:16 pm

Comments

Does the criminal get out on bond??

Comment by Wow Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 5:20 pm
Per CWB Chicago Judge Mary Marubio set bond at $200,000 cash. If he posts that amount he will then go on electronic monitoring.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 5:30 pm
Whoa. I thought the mayor and Cook County State’s Attorney were all “soft on crime” ?

Next thing you know, Irvin will take credit for this arrest.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 5:32 pm
This is good to read.

Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, continue investigating other robberies as well.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 5:57 pm
Seems like judges may want to take advice: Court records show that a pretrial services advisor recommended that Judge David Navarro give Harper “maximum conditions” if Navarro decided to release him on bail. The court officer said, if Harper were to be released, the likelihood of him committing a new offense or not appearing in court were both at level 6, the highest possible.
Instead of maximum conditions, Navarro set bail at $5,000, which allowed Harper, who prosecutors said had a pending robbery case, to get out of jail by posting a $500 deposit

Comment by Jose Abreu's Next Homer Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 6:51 pm
I am glad he got caught. I am not defending him in the least. And I appreciate the message it sends, it is badly needed.

9 robberies totaling $175k in losses (merch and damage)

It just strikes me as a pretty small amount.

$150k of it came from hitting Burberry twice. That’s maybe 50 raincoats.

Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 8:00 pm
There’s been revisions to what is excerpted to what is in the story. The Pritzker thing is not there and South Austin is Maywood.

Comment by Broken News Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 8:57 pm
Why does the article read like a hit piece and printed at the same time certain individuals are trying to tie Pritzker to crime? Don’t recall none of these ties being made to the governors office when Rauner was there.

Comment by Real Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 9:55 pm
If the accused had outstanding warrants, the accused stays in jail until the Judges issuing each warrant decide what to do. Only when all the warrants are addressed, does the $200k bail apply.

Comment by Ares Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:23 pm
Kim Foxx ball is in your court

Comment by Almost the Weekend Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:45 pm
Democrats suddenly discovering they need to protect their residents and businesses by making arrests including expressway shootings in the Chicago Metropolitan area. And bragging about no less.

How refreshing. Must mean there are elections around the corner.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 7:09 am
Looks like he used his stolen money to pay bail. Great job, Cook County.

Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 7:14 am
- Louis G Atsaves -

Did you you support the Rauner criminal justice reforms that other Republicans called… weak?

That’s interesting

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 7:20 am
=Democrats suddenly discovering they need to protect their residents and businesses by making arrests=

Which Democrats? The CPD, US Marshall Service, Great Lake Fugitive Task Force? Because I didn’t see any “Democrats” making arrests only cops and law enforcement. And it would be a very cynical ploy to claim that cops only due their job at election time. That’s not how you “back the blue.”

I get it that the ILGOP is all in on crime and wants to paint a narrative that Pritzker is doing nothing. If you were truly concerned about crime you’d applaud this. The fact that you can’t even bring yourself to recognize and thank the fine work of law enforcement tells us all we need to know.

Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 7:37 am
=== Democrats suddenly discovering they need to protect their residents and businesses===

Crime had gone down 2017, 2018, and 2019. Now some crimes are spiking up so of course there is going to be a response.

Comment by Da big bad wolf Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 11:50 am
=== Looks like he used his stolen money to pay bail. Great job, Cook County.===

I looked all over and can’t find any article that says that.

I did find out that Tacarre Harper is from Maywood. Also he has several outstanding warrants, so do those charges come with their own bail requirements?

Comment by Da big bad wolf Wednesday, Feb 9, 22 @ 12:13 pm