An 18-time convicted felon is now accused of scaling greater than 10 flooring to burglarize considered one of Chicago’s most unique non-public houses whereas the house owners had been asleep.
Prosecutors say 46-year-old Robert Berry entered a residence within the 200 block of East Lake Shore Drive round 3 a.m. on August 19, 2025. The block, which incorporates the landmark Drake Lodge and a row of early Twentieth-century luxurious co-ops, is among the costliest stretches of actual property within the metropolis. The victims’ dwelling was not too long ago in the marketplace for $8.4 million.
Video allegedly captured Berry slipping right into a rear gangway, climbing an eight-foot fence, after which scaling a hearth escape to succeed in the sufferer’s dwelling on the higher flooring of the constructing. The residents had been asleep when Berry entered and took a handbag containing $345, based on prosecutors. They mentioned surveillance footage later confirmed him taking an elevator down from the higher flooring and asking the doorman for an umbrella on his manner out. The doorman obliged.
A constructing worker later discovered the sufferer’s purse on a stairwell touchdown.
Simply hours after the Lake Shore Drive housebreaking, Chicago cops arrested him on a felony shoplifting cost in River North, based on CPD data. When detectives later circulated photos of the burglar to cops throughout town, the officers who arrested him in River North that day acknowledged him and confirmed he was arrested whereas sporting the identical garments the burglar wore.
Police not too long ago positioned Berry within the Loop and arrested him to face expenses within the housebreaking case. Prosecutors mentioned he instructed police someone was chasing him on the evening of the housebreaking, so he bumped into the gangway and climbed the fireplace escape till he discovered an open door.
Choose John Hook ordered Berry detained, citing what he known as an “extraordinarily prolonged legal historical past.” Information present Berry has been arrested in Chicago greater than 25 instances since 2015 and charged with felonies 18 instances since 2001. His convictions embrace narcotics, arson, housebreaking, theft, and not less than seven separate shoplifting circumstances between 2011 and 2024.
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