Thief Heists Computer from Starbucks Customer

are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who is wanted for questioning in the theft of a customer’s computer at Starbucks on Nov. 5.

Around 7 p.m., police were called to Starbucks at 5135 W. 95th St. in response to several calls of a theft that just occurred.

A 24-year-old customer told police that he was sitting inside the coffee shop using his Hewlitt-Packard laptop. A male black, approximately 18 to 21 years old, and wearing a Northern Illinois University sweatshirt with the school’s Husky mascot on the front, was overhead asking another customer how much his computer was worth.

The man then asked the customer if he could use his computer to check his Facebook account. The customer told him no, and the man took a seat near his table.

Minutes later, the man walked over to the customer’s table and unplugged the charger. He began to walk away with the computer when the customer grabbed it and a brief struggle ensued.

The offender was able to get the computer away from the customer and flee out the south door of coffee shop. He fled southbound over the Metra tracks and continued past the parking garage. The customer followed the offender until he lost him eastbound on 5100 block of 96th Street.

The police report did not indicate if the customer had left his computer unattended inside the Starbucks.

Police arrived and set up a perimeter and began searching for the offender. An Oak Lawn police officer spotted a man matching the suspect’s description on 95th Street near David’s Bridal Shop. The customer was taken to the scene to identify the man, but wasn’t sure if he was the thief because the man’s sweatshirt did not have the Husky emblem on the front.

Other witnesses who witnessed the theft at Starbucks were brought to the scene. With the exception of one, witnesses weren’t sure if it was the same man that they saw take the customer’s computer.

The man was taken into custody and brought to the Oak Lawn police station for further investigation. Police went to the man’s house and were given permission by his mother to search the residence, but police did not find the computer.

Police officers and detectives went back to Starbucks to view security video that showed the offender inside the coffee shop. A photo of the offender was taken of the security video images. The images established that the offender on video was not the man police had in custody. He was released without being charged.

The offender in the Starbucks’ theft is between five-feet-eight-inches and five-feet-ten-inches tall. Anyone with information about the man in the photo is asked to call the Oak Lawn Police Department at 708-499-7721.

Police are also cautioning people not to leave their computers unattended in coffee shops and other public places.