A Chicago man has been charged with felony theft after authorities uncovered approximately $1 million worth of stolen Nike and New Balance shoes in a warehouse he had sub-leased.
Erick Lujano Bautista, 26, was arrested following an investigation by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office into organized retail crime. Detectives began tracking stolen Nike merchandise in January and ultimately traced the goods to a warehouse on South Western Avenue. Upon executing a search warrant on January 31, investigators found the massive stockpile of stolen shoes.
Bautista, who was not an authorized seller for either brand, was taken into custody and later released pending further legal proceedings. Both Nike and New Balance are now working with law enforcement to determine the status of the recovered merchandise.
The case is part of a broader crackdown by the Cook County Sheriff’s Organized Retail Crime Unit, which has recovered more than $4.5 million in stolen goods over the past nine months. Sheriff Tom Dart reaffirmed his office’s commitment to combating retail theft, emphasizing its connection to other criminal enterprises.
Ten days before President-elect Donald Trump took office, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson doubled down on the city’s controversial Welcoming City Ordinance.
At the time, Johnson issued new guidelines for local agencies on handling visits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. This move comes as Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, has vowed to prioritize enforcement and deportation efforts in cities like Chicago. Meanwhile, the City Council is gearing up for a significant vote on this contentious issue.
Under the new directives, Mayor Johnson is urging city agencies and their affiliates to resist ICE operations on city property unless specific legal criteria are met. These guidelines include instructions to contact legal counsel, deny ICE entry into private or sensitive locations without a judicial warrant, and require the highest-ranking official on-site to handle ICE interactions.
“I’m surprised the mayor is taking these extraordinary measures to obstruct what Alderman Tabares and I are proposing,” said Alderman Ray Lopez (15th Ward). “Our goal is simple: to ensure public safety by addressing a small number of individuals who repeatedly engage in criminal behavior. The idea that we’re targeting everyone is false and misleading.”
