This Chicago criminal lawyer sat down to lunch and immediately overheard the following exchange coming from the table next to her:
Gentleman 1: I don't believe it. Who would bother to do such a thing?
Gentleman 2: Well, I don't think it's a guest or member. I don't even think an employee or the overnight cleaning crew did it, but you know they remove all items left in the lockers after 6 days.
Gentleman 1: What are you talking about?
Gentleman 2: Well if you aren't renting a locker, they will cut the locks off, take everything out of the locker, and bag it for you. It's not like they don't have signs.
A report was filed yesterday that a woman had over $100,000 worth of jewelry stolen from a locker at the East Bank Club.
Alexi Dohnal arrived at the East Bank Club Tuesday for a facial, changed into a spa robe and -- without giving it a second thought -- placed her eight-carat diamond ring and wedding band and her gold Cartier watch in a locker.
When she returned, she found the lock broken and her jewelry gone.
"My world was spinning, I was so confused," said Dohnal.
Her first thought was that an attendee had mistakenly forced the locker open and moved her things.
Dohnal said she went to the front desk but they knew nothing about anyone tampering with her locker. They called police.
She described the stolen items to police as a platinum engagement ring and wedding band bearing a total of about eight carats of diamonds, worth more than $120,000, and a yellow gold Cartier with diamonds surrounding the face, worth about $20,000.
Police said the jewelry was apparently taken sometime etween[sic] noon and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. No one was in custody.
Dohnal said she wore the jewelry every day and would never have thought it might be stolen in the upscale River North health club used by Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.
Well, assuming the jewelry is recovered, someone is facing a huge charge of theft. In Illinois, theft is defined as:
(a) A person commits theft when he knowingly:
(1) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over
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| property of the owner; or
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(2) Obtains by deception control over property of
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(3) Obtains by threat control over property of the
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(4) Obtains control over stolen property knowing the
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| property to have been stolen or under such circumstances as would reasonably induce him to believe that the property was stolen; or
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(5) Obtains or exerts control over property in the
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| custody of any law enforcement agency which is explicitly represented to him by any law enforcement officer or any individual acting in behalf of a law enforcement agency as being stolen, and
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(A) Intends to deprive the owner permanently of
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| the use or benefit of the property; or
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(B) Knowingly uses, conceals or abandons the
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| property in such manner as to deprive the owner permanently of such use or benefit; or
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(C) Uses, conceals, or abandons the property
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| knowing such use, concealment or abandonment probably will deprive the owner permanently of such use or benefit.
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Still, the charge would be a Class 1 Felony because the value of the goods taken is greater than $100,000! In Illinois, a Class 1 Felony is punishable by a minimum of 4 years and up to 15 years based on 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-30. That's a long time for someone who can't sell the stolen goods on the market for their actual value. Additionally, let's not forget that this is a non-violent crime.
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