Booze-Stealing Thief Found With 39 Unopened Liquor Bottles: Cops

LIBERTYVILLE, IL – Police in Libertyville busted a Chicago man who allegedly stole dozens of bottles of liquor from several Walgreens locations, including two stores in Libertyville, authorities said. George J. Neff, 57, of 825 N. Christina Avenue in Chicago, was charged with felony retail theft in connection with the rash of thefts of booze bottles following his arrest on May 4. The arrest came after police were called to the Walgreens at 1770 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville at 4:55 p.m. for a report of a man who walked out of the store with the stolen liquor and got into a getaway car, according to a report from the Libertyville Police Department.

After receiving a description of the vehicle, police pulled over the car on Route 137 near Des Plaines Drive. Inside, officers found 39 bottles of unopened liquor and various other unopened items, some in Walgreens bags.

A Walgreen employee positively identified Neff as the person who stole the liquor. An inventory from the store at 1770 N. Milwaukee Avenue showed a total of seven bottles as missing, police said. During questioning, it was discovered that Neff had been driven by another person to six to eight other Walgreens locations.

The driver allegedly told police Neff would walk out with liquor hidden in his coat. The manager at the Walgreens store at 1470 South Milwaukee Avenue was contacted and the store’s video also identified Neff, where he was seen taking eight bottles of liquor.

The bottles of stolen liquor from both Libertyville stores had a value of $384.85 and all 15 bottles were returned to the stores. The remaining bottles were retained as evidence, according to the police report.

Photo via Shutterstock