COOK COUNTY, IL – A 23-year-old man has been charged with burglary after Sheriff’s Police found him inside a cancer treatment center with items he had stolen from the facility, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
At approximately 7:00 a.m. on Monday, April 21, Sheriff’s Police responded to a call of a burglary in progress at the Illinois Cancer Specialists Center in unincorporated Maine Township. Upon arrival, officers found the offender, Leon Walker, in possession of a screwdriver, cash, three company credit cards, 14 gift cards, and was wearing a facility t-shirt. He was then arrested and transported to Sheriff’s Police Headquarters.
Upon further investigation, Detectives learned that Walker, who neither was a patient nor an employee, entered the center sometime over the weekend and had been staying there. Staff at the center also confirmed with Detectives that the stolen items belonged to the facility.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony charges of Burglary and Possession of Burglary Tools against Walker that afternoon.
Walker, of the 0-100 block of North Lorel Avenue in Chicago’s South Austin neighborhood, appeared for his initial court hearing today at the Skokie Courthouse where a judge ordered him released pending trial. His next court hearing is scheduled on May 28.
The public is reminded that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
-30-