Authorities said the suspect is 20 years old and may be a current or former employee of a different Mariano's store. Witnesses said he pretended to be a worker at the South Loop grocery and snuck in with the night shift.
He allegedly went for the cash registers once he was inside the Mariano's Fresh Market at 16th and Clark, around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
A source close to the investigation said an employee recognized the man from a separate robbery that happened at a different Mariano's store and began chasing after him.
The suspect allegedly tried to run and hopped into a newer model Jaguar, but didn't get very far. He crashed the luxury car into a storage facility next to the parking garage and caused damage to the wall.
"My manager called me up last night at about 12:30 p.m. and she says we had a little accident here," South Loop Self-Storage co-owner John Kamysz said. "As long as nobody got hurt, damage can always be repaired. No problem."
Store security tackled the man and held him until police arrived. The suspect was taken into custody immediately after the incident.
A spokesperson for Mariano's said the burglary happened after hours and no employees were hurt.
Police are looking into other burglaries that might be linked to him. Charges are pending.
