Bucktown burglary victim blasts cops for lack of response

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The victim of a residential burglary in Bucktown in mid-March that was caught on camera is frustrated because of what he says is lack of response from Chicago police.

Miguel Martinez lives in the 1600-block of North Bell and on the surveillance video given to him by neighbors, the burglar can clearly be seen climbing in through the window of his family's home.

"He came straight in here, moved stuff around. There was a suitcase right here," Martinez says.

Martinez says the man raided his home for more than 20 minutes.

"We had MacBooks, we had video game systems, video games, we had intellectual property that was on these products," he says.

Police were responsive at first, he says.

"[The officer] took down the report, she walked around the apartment and told me an evidence team would come in about maybe an hour later," he says.

That was on March 18.

"It's been three weeks and absolutely nothing," he says.

The surveillance video offers a clear view of the suspect, but Martinez says the police have not come to collect it from him.

"I have nobody to give it to, I made copies of the CDs just to hand it to them once they came," he says. "I'm still waiting to give it to them."

ABC7 Eyewitness News asked Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the lack of police response, wondering if non-urgent crimes are lower priority because of staffing and budget issues.

"No, I mean, there's a full staff," Mayor Emanuel said. "I don't know about those phone calls or that, but if I get the information, I'm sure Eddie Johnson and the police department, and detectives department will be on it. Because that's just not acceptable if that happens to be true."

Martinez has even preserved a footprint for detectives.

It's now been more than three weeks since an officer took the burglary report, and still no one has been over to collect evidence. Detectives now say they have seen surveillance, and Martinez says he has now received a few phone calls from investigators.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement Monday night: "Detective are actively investigating the incident and they do have the video. The First Deputy Superintendent has also asked the Chief of Detectives and Chief of Patrol to look into whether this incident was dispatched properly and investigated in accordance with CPD standards and protocols."