2 Cook County men charged in bank customer burglary spree

DES PLAINES, Ill. - Two Cook County men have been charged in a burglary scheme targeting bank customers around northwest suburban Des Plaines.

Andres F. Parra-Bohorquez, 31, of Chicago, has been charged with two counts of burglary, and Michael S. Castiblanco-Quiroga, 32, has been charged with one count of burglary and another count of a fake ID, according to a statement from Des Plaines police.

On Aug. 12, a 53-year-old Palatine man told police he withdrew $4,500 from a bank in the village earlier that day. He then put $4,380 of the cash in an envelope and placed it inside the unlocked glove box of his 1998 Chevrolet Camaro.

After leaving the bank, the man drove to Des Plaines Auto Clinic, located at 480 South River Road, and entered the business. When he returned to his vehicle, the money was missing from the glove box.

Surveillance video recovered by police showed a black Mercury Mariner, occupied by at least two people, in the area at the time of the burglary. Investigators later learned a vehicle matching the same description had been in the vicinity of similar crimes reported around Des Plaines.

[L-R] Andres Parra-Bohorquez and Michael Castiblanco-Quiroga. (Des Plaines Police Department)

While conducting surveillance of the vehicle on Aug. 28, police tracked the Mercury through the Chicago area as it stopped at several banking institutions around the northwest suburbs.

The people inside the Mercury, later identified as Castiblanco-Quiroga and Parra-Bohorquez, would allegedly wait for a patron to leave the bank, then follow the customer as they drove away.

Just after noon on Aug. 28, the Mercury briefly pulled into a Mobil gas station at 20235 North Rand Road in Palatine, before driving east on Rand Road. As the Mercury approached the area of Rand Road and Arlington Heights Road, it entered a business strip at 309 East Rand Road in Arlington Heights.

Acting as a lookout, Castiblanco-Quiroga got out of the Mercury and walked inside a UPS store, passing by the unoccupied silver 2017 Ford Explorer, which belonged to the owner of the Mobil gas station, a 72-year-old South Barrington man.

Investigators then saw a masked Parra-Bohorquez get out of the Mercury and remove a laptop-style case from the Explorer before both men ran back to their vehicle and drive away.

As they pursued the Mercury, investigators contacted the owner of the Explorer who told them the case contained around $25,000 in cash.

After a high speed chase that briefly passed through Wheeling, investigators later located the unoccupied Mercury in the parking lot of a Mariano's, located at 25 Waukegan Road in Glenview.

Castiblanco-Quiroga was taken into custody after he attempted to flee the area in an Uber, which was pulled over by authorities. At the time of his arrest, police located $761 in cash believed to be from the earlier burglary. He was also found to be in possession of two fake ID cards.

After tracing his fingerprints, police learned Castiblanco-Quiroga was wanted on a parole violation connected to a robbery in California.

Officers arrested Parra-Bohorquez at a train station in the area a short time later. When he was taken into custody, police found a plastic bag containing $23,890 and an additional $64 in his pocket. All the money was believed to have been stolen from the Explorer.

Additional cash was recovered after police obtained a search warrant for the Mercury.

Both men were expected to appear in court Friday afternoon.