BUCKTOWN — A convicted felon on parole was caught stealing two packages off a porch in Bucktown, police told residents at a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meeting Wednesday night.
The theft occurred around 1:35 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of North Honore Street.
"A resident called 911 after observing him stealing a neighbors' packages," Shakespeare District Officer Gretchen Chavez told about two dozen people at the Beat 1434 CAPS meeting in the Bucktown-Wicker Park library, 1701 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Joseph Richmond, 28, of the 6800 block of South Ridgeland Avenue, was charged with theft, Chicago Police said in a news release issued late Thursday.
Richmond has multiple felony convictions and is currently on parole after serving time for a 2015 residential burglary conviction, police said. He is scheduled to appear in bond court on Friday.
Police said Richmond was arrested after officers responded to a call of a suspicious person who had been moving packages on a porch. Richmond ran off when police arrived, but was caught in a nearby yard, police said. Witnesses later identified him as the man who had stolen the packages, police said.
In addition to Tuesday's arrest, Chavez said police had arrested three other package thieves in the same beat recently.
One was caught in the 1600 block of North Bell Avenue on Dec. 5, and two were arrested after taking packages in the 1800 block of West North Avenue on Dec. 9, Chavez said.
The beat is bordered by Armitage Avenue on the north, North Avenue on the south, Wood Street on the east and Rockwell Street on the west. Beat 1434's next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the library, 1701 N. Milwaukee Ave.
View a map of all Shakespeare District beats here. More information on particular beats and meetings is available on the Chicago Police Department's new website. Residents can also follow the local police on Twitter at @ChicagoCAPS14.
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