Chicago Lululemon theft: GPS trackers bust man accused of stealing over $3K in merch
CHICAGO - A man accused of stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise from a Magnificent Mile Lululemon store was quickly tracked down after some of the stolen items led investigators directly to his vehicle.
Chicago Lululemon burglary
The backstory:
Cook County Sheriff's police were notified on Thursday after a man entered a Lululemon store located at 900 N. Michigan Ave., and left with roughly $3,300 worth of merchandise without paying.
Several of the stolen items were equipped with GPS tracking devices. Police followed the merchandise as it traveled south on the Dan Ryan Expressway and eventually reached the intersection of 79th and Halsted streets. When investigators arrived, they found three vehicles stopped at a traffic light and conducted traffic stops on all three.
During the stop of a Toyota Corolla, investigators said they spotted Lululemon merchandise in plain view with security tags still attached.
The driver and passenger of the Corolla were taken into custody. The passenger was identified as 22-year-old Tavieon Holman, who police later determined was the man seen taking the merchandise from the store.
The stolen clothing was recovered and returned to Lululemon, officials said.
Holman was charged with felony retail theft while the driver was released without charges.
During a court hearing on Friday, a judge ordered Holman into the court's pretrial electronic monitoring program. However, authorities said he remained in custody because he also had two outstanding warrants from Kane County for burglary and escape.
What's next:
Holman is currently being held at the Kane County Jail on those charges.
The Source: The information in this report came from the Cook County Sheriff's Office.