2 members of clean-up crew charged with stealing $19K from unit after deadly Kenwood high-rise fire

Sunday, January 29, 2023
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two members of a clean-up crew have been charged in connection to a burglary after prosecutors said they stolen from a tenant in a fire-damaged Kenwood high-rise.
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Anger Jose Pacheco Uzcategui, 20, and Jose Gamboa, 26, are accused of stealing from an apartment in the Lake Park Avenue building, according to Chicago police.

The two allegedly stole $19,000 and jewelry from a unit, which had a surveillance camera inside, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Both men have been charged with one felony count of residential burglary.

One woman died in the fire that Chicago fire officials said was caused by the careless use of smoking materials.

Deadly high-rise fire caused by smoking materials, CFD says

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The fire broke out in the 15th floor of the 25-story Harper Square Co-Op building in the 4800-block of South Lake Park Avenue just after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Wind caused the fire to spread very quickly, going vertically from floor to floor all the way up to the 24th floor. It took hundreds of firefighters to knock out the flames, and the elevators were out, so all of the equipment had to be lifted up manually.



The woman was found dead on the 15th floor. Eight other residents were injured. A firefighter was also injured. Now more than 130 units have been deemed uninhabitable by the city.

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