Man Charged With Stealing $1 Million In Luxury Watches In Smash-And-Grab Heist At Perillo Automotive In Gold Coast
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 38-year-old man from Hammond, Indiana, has been charged with stealing $1 million worth of luxury watches in a smash-and-grab heist at a Gold Coast auto dealership in December.
Police Supt. David Brown said Carlos Valiant has been charged with felony counts of theft and burglary, after he was identified as one of the two men who robbed the Perillo Automotive luxury car dealership on Dec. 11. The dealership sells Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maserati, and other luxury car brands, as well as high-end watches and jewelry.
"As you know, a number of cities, including Chicago, have been seeing an uptick in organized retail theft, including the smash and grab style robberies over the past several months. Popular retail corridors throughout the city, as well as small businesses, are feeling the impact, and so are our neighborhoods," Brown said.
Brown said Valiant and another man entered the dealership shortly after noon on Dec. 11, smashed a glass display case, and stole five watches worth $1 million.
Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said one of the two robbers had a weapon, likely mace, and some people inside the store had concealed carry licenses, and when they pulled out their guns, the robbers fled the store. Valiant ran off while the second suspect got into a car that sped off.
Detectives spent a month investigating the case, and by reviewing surveillance video, were able to track him as he ran off and changed clothes, before crossing a Chicago River bridge, and coming across someone on the other side of the bridge, asking to use that person's phone to make a call. Deenihan said detectives were able to locate that person, and trace the number Valiant called to Indiana, which helped police identify him and secure an arrest warrant.
Valiant was extradited from Indiana to Chicago on Thursday, and was due to appear in bond court on Friday.
The robbery prompted an angry response from the dealership's owner, Joe Perillo, who called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to do more about the recent rise in smash-and-grab style robberies at high-end stores.
"A city that I love and everybody loves to come to is going to be a desert if they don't stop this. We're going to have people moving out of this city -- they're moving out now -- that want to just be safe," Perillo said in December. "They're walking into my business, crashing the windows. And one guy stands with a gun. And we have to have this happen. Enough is enough."
Perillo wants it to stop and thinks that starts within Chicago. He said Cook County prosecutors and city leadership need to hold criminals accountable.
"It's only a fool who keeps doing things the same way and expects different results. If the Mayor and Kim Foxx don't do anything to get control of this, it's not going to get better. It's going ot get worse," he said.
Experts have told CBS 2 that burglaries like this could affect tourism and make people hesitant to come downtown.
It is the last thing Perillo wants in the city he loves and calls home.
"But right now it's turning into PalookaVille," he said.
