COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A 74-year-old Northwest Side woman turned the tables on a crook who, week after week, would break into her apartment after she went outside to garden, prosecutors said.
The woman set up a hidden camera in her Dunning neighborhood home and caught the burglar in the act three separate times, prosecutors said.
Now Daniel Manchen, 52, is facing multiple counts of residential burglary, prosecutors said. He was ordered held on $50,000 bail on Monday.
Manchen, of Norridge, allegedly first met the woman at a Harlem Avenue cafe, where he was a customer. She lives above the cafe.
He would watch for her to go outside to work in her garden, and then break into her second-floor apartment, prosecutors said.
To catch whoever was targeting her, the woman installed a hidden surveillance camera, prosecutors said.
According to court records, Manchen broke in and stole jewelry and money on three occasions. On July 11, he made off with $200 worth of the woman's belongings; on July 16 his spoils totaled $2,000; and on July 23 he stole $100, according to the woman.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
