Dog Stolen From Wilmette Found At Shelter, Woman Jailed Over Burglary
WILMETTE, IL — A dog stolen during a home burglary last week in Wilmette has been found safe, and the Chicago woman accused of taking the pet has been charged with a pair of felonies and ordered jailed.Barbara Thomas, 33, of the 1500 block of W. 78th Street, was arrested Thursday and charged with residential burglary and theft in connection with the Oct. 10 abduction of a Shih Tzu named Leon from the 100 block of Laurel Avenue, authorities said.Police and prosecutors said Thomas initially failed to break into the locked home of Leon's owners, after which she entered a neighboring house through an unlocked rear door while carrying the dog. Thomas then left the area with the stolen pet, police said. Although nothing of value was reported missing from the home, the dog remained unaccounted for until it was found at a shelter in Chicago on Tuesday.Assistant State's Attorney Nick Campbell said Thomas was captured on private security video leaving the home with a child's backpack and the dog. She was then recorded about a half hour later boarding a CTA Purple Line train."[Thomas was] captured on in-car video with the dog inside of the backpack and then removing the dog from the backpack and petting it," Campbell said.Wilmette police sent images of Thomas to the Illinois Secretary of State, which identified her as a possible match. Officers learned she had been arrested in Arlington Heights on Wednesday and charged with possession of burglary tools, and they reviewed tape of her arrest that showed her in possession of the child's stolen backpack, which they later found at her home. The dog and the backpack were both identified by their respective owners.Assistant Public Defender Gregory Danek said Thomas, who has previous stints in state prison for theft and burglary convictions, has struggled with homelessness and mental illness but does not currently present any threat to the community."I don't think she's a danger if those conditions are managed properly, and I don't think that incarceration is going to do that," Danek said. "I don't think it's needed."Campbell said Thomas chooses her victims indiscriminately."She has no intention of stopping conducting these crimes," Campbell said. "So I do believe she is a danger to the community, going into somebody's home, luckily this individual was not there, but that certainly did not matter to her."Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese granted the prosecution's motion to deny Thomas' pretrial release, although he suggested he could be convinced otherwise if presented with a well-documented mental health care plan."Then, I think it might cast a different understanding as to whether or no the defendant should be detained or not," Calabrese said. "The benefit of the Pretrial Fairness Act is that the detention of the defendant is going to be reviewed each and every time the case is up."The article Dog Stolen From Wilmette Found At Shelter, Woman Jailed Over Burglary appeared first on Wilmette-Kenilworth, IL Patch.
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