Deerfield Storage Locker Thief Suspect Arrested: Cops

DEERFIELD, IL — A 36-year-old Elmwood Park man was arrested in connection with a string of suburban storage locker thefts in and could face additional felony charges over incidents still being investigated in Deerfield, Niles, Lincolnwood and Schiller Park. Libertyville Police said their investigations unit carried out a search warrant at a Chicago storage facility last week. Inside, they they found several storage lockers containing stolen property. Detectives then contacted a suspect in the thefts and took him into custody on Sept. 11, according to police.

Michael Lozada, of 7935 W. Belmont St. in Elmwood Park, was been charged with burglary and theft $10,000-$100,000 in Lake County Circuit Court, police said. Bond has been set at $150,000 for Lozada.

Detectives found a large amount of seemingly stolen property in the storage locker, and they're still working on processing it in the hopes of identifying its owners. According to police reports, there were multiple reports of storage locker thefts in July 2017 in Libertyville alone. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Niles — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Numerous law enforcement agencies in Lake and Cook counties, as well as the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force, have been investigating the storage locker thefts.

Deerfield and Niles police said they were unable to share any information about the case at this time, as Cook County prosecutors have not yet approved any felony charges.

Police in Lincolnwood and Schiller Park are also investigating Lozano, according to Libertyville police.

Photo caption: Michael Lozada/Photo credit: Libertyville Police Department

Patch editor Amie Rowland contributed