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Caught Trespassing By Bucktown Landlord, Man Says He Was Looking For Friend

By Alisa Hauser | May 30, 2017 2:28pm | Updated on May 30, 2017 2:37pm
 Louis Guthrie, left, and his older brother James Harris.
Louis Guthrie, left, and his older brother James Harris.
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Courtesy of James Guthrie

BUCKTOWN — A suburban man's apparent attempt to get into a Bucktown apartment building Monday ended with him badly cutting his arm while smashing a vestibule window and being caught by the 76-year-old landlord, police and the landlord said.

The building's owner, Richard Wallace, said a tenant called him about someone trying to get into the six-flat late Monday.

"They said there is something strange going on; someone's buzzing all the buzzers, and they just smashed a window downstairs. I jumped over there. I arrived as the punk was wrapping his arm in his own shirt due to the heavy bleeding," said Wallace, who lives across the street from the building.

 The quiet Bucktown block and an inside vestibule window that a man broke in an attempt to get inside a Bucktown apartment building are pictured.
The quiet Bucktown block and an inside vestibule window that a man broke in an attempt to get inside a Bucktown apartment building are pictured.
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Richard Wallace

Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman, said Shakespeare district officers responded to a call of a burglary in progress at a residential property in the 1800 block of North Hoyne Avenue in Bucktown around 10:10 p.m. Monday.

Wallace said that when he arrived, the trespasser kept saying, "My buddy Chris went in there."

Wallace said he has no tenant named Chris.

"I put the guy on the floor and told my tenants to call 911," Wallace said.

"I stood over him. I ordered him to get on the ground, and he did so. That's when he started crying and asked if he could pay for the damage. There were a couple a moments he looked toward the door, and I blocked him. When the cop came he really started bawling."

When officers got there, Wallace was there to greet them — along with a broken entry window, a bloody vestibule and Louis P. Guthrie, 24, sitting on the ground, bleeding from his left arm, Estrada said.

Guthrie, of south suburban Sauk Village,  was charged with criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing, both misdemeanors, police said.

Guthrie was transported to St. Mary's Hospital, where he was treated for the injury to his arm.

Guthrie was released on a recognizance bond and is scheduled to appear in Cook County Court at 5555 W. Grand Ave. on July 24.

Though Guthrie was the only person arrested, Wallace said that his wife, Deirdre, saw two men who had been waiting out in front of the building drive off as the commotion unfolded.

Early Wednesday, Guthrie's older brother James Harris said Guthrie was just trying to visit a friend.

"Louis was not attempting to burglarize the apartment complex. Louis rang several doorbells attempting to locate his friend because he was afraid and is unfamiliar with the city. Louis was very remorseful and cooperative with the landlord and even offered to pay for the damages. Louis is no different from any intoxicated young man in Wrigleyville who has done something dumb after leaving a bar," Harris wrote.

Guthrie, reached at his parents home in Sauk Village on Wednesday, told DNAinfo he was knocking loudly on the glass when it shattered. Guthrie said he got three stitches on his arm at the hospital before being transferred to a jail cell.

"I was in the jail for four hours. I got out around 8 a.m. [Tuesday] When they gave me the iBond, I had to walk 10 blocks to get to the other facility and get my phone. I had $3 in my pocket," Guthrie said.

Guthrie, who works at an Amazon warehouse in the city, said he had just gotten off work on Monday and his friends said they were going to a party. 

Guthrie said he had heard music playing and was trying to get the attention of those in the building, where he thought there was a party happening. 

Wallace was "kind of belligerent," according to Guthrie.

"He was like get on the floor, get down, and I am like, I am cut and bleeding. He is trying to vilify me and act like he's a hero, when that is not the situation. Yes, I was crying because I am cut and I don't know where I am at. He was not trying to listen," Guthrie said.

Wallace, a 40-year resident of Bucktown, had believed Guthrie was trying to burglarize the building. Wallace thought the building was targeted because many folks were still out of town from the long holiday weekend.

Wallace said he plans to go to Guthrie's court date on July 24 and press charges.

"He offered to pay for [the window] and said, 'Let me pay for it,'" Wallace said. "I said, 'You're going to pay all right.' "

Troy Williams, Guthrie's stepdad, said that he will be in court too, to defend his son, whom he described as a "great young man" who has a job, is not affiliated with gangs and had worked at the Sauk Village community center to mentor younger kids.

"He is very trusting and he was supposed to go to a party. He was with some guys he knows, he called them on the phone and they keep hanging up on him. He believed he was trying to find a party. He was a victim," Williams said.

Guthrie said he was with two friends at the time, who drove away as he was getting arrested.