Uptown man charged with burglary, identity theft after allegedly stealing mail
Jonathan Minter | Chicago police
CHICAGO - An Uptown man is accused of burglary and identity theft after breaking into buildings and stealing packages and mail late last year, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Jonathan Minter, 37, was charged with three felony counts of burglary and four felony counts of identity theft by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, according to a statement from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Minter, who also goes by the name Jordan Hitchcock, appeared Wednesday in court, where a Cook County judge allowed his pretrial release on electronic monitoring. He is due back in court Tuesday.
More charges are anticipated as the investigation continues into Minter, who is also wanted on at least 12 warrants for failing to appear in court on separate, similar arrests from 2023.
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Minter was arrested Tuesday in River North at the Homewood Suites hotel, 40 E. Grand Ave., after police linked him to at least three alleged crimes in November and December of last year.
On Dec. 27, Minter allegedly used a postal key to "forcibly" enter a mailroom at 1801 S. Michigan Ave. where he tried to steal packages, his arrest report shows.
On Dec. 16, Minter was captured on surveillance video entering a building at 320 N. Michigan Ave., where he stole mail, and on Nov. 12, Minter used a key or other device to "circumvent" the lock on a building at 4625 W. Lawrence Ave., where he allegedly stole mail, according to the report.
Postal inspection service spokesperson Spencer Block said the identity theft charges were approved because of evidence officers found on Minter during his Tuesday arrest.
Minter was previously arrested Sept. 28, 2023, and Oct. 23, 2023, by the postal inspection service and Chicago police on more identity theft and burglary charges related to mail theft. Those charges are pending, court records show.
Each arrest carries its own set of charges, and by the time he was arrested this week, Minter had accrued more than a dozen active "failure to appear" warrants, for not showing up in court, according to a postal inspection service news release.
"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to defending the nation’s mail system from criminal activity, preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail, and protecting United States Postal Service employees. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service values our law enforcement partners for supporting our mission to protect the integrity of the U.S. Mail," Ruth M. Mendonça, inspector in charge of the Chicago division of the postal inspection service, said in the release.