Chicago Man Swiping TVs Tells Kmart Security He Has A Gun
OAK LAWN, IL Aug 1 2017— A Chicago man pushing a cart with two flat screen TVs out of the Oak Lawn Kmart was arrested after he told loss prevention officers that he had a gun, prosecutors said.
Pedro Montalvo, 29, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on an aggravated robbery charge. He was also cited for violating his probation and has another pending case for reckless driving.
The alleged heist unfolded around 3:08 p.m. July 26. According to the charges, Montalvo had loaded two 40-inch, Samsung flat-screen TVs into a cart after he had cut off their security devices.
He pushed the cart out of the store at 95th Street and Pulaski Road. Loss prevention officers pursued Montalvo into the parking lot where he told them he had a gun and reached for his belt, the prosecutor said.
Montalvo allegedly abandoned the cart with the televisions in the parking lot and fled.
Police canvassed the area and he was found a short time later in a yard in the 9500 block of Harding Avenue in Evergreen Park.
The prosecutor said it was not known if an actual gun was recovered. Montalvo was also charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property for apparently damaging the Evergreen Park homeowner’s fence.
The prosecutor said that Montalvo has had various misdemeanor arrests for battery and retail theft, two of which were felonies that got knocked down to misdemeanors. The assistant public defender told the judge that Montalvo is the father of four children and has applied for disability.
“It’s never a good idea to tell someone you have a gun,” Judge Felice said before setting bail at $200,000. Bail on the violation of bail for reckless driving was also set at $50,000.
Montalvo is due back in court Aug. 15 in Bridgeview.
