Prolific Burglar's Loot Up for Auction at Gurnee Coin Shop He Stole From

GURNEE, IL - Over $100,000 worth of collectible coins nabbed by a prolific burglar, who was known by authorities for his uncanny ability to crack open safes to get to his loot, is up for auction at a Gurnee coin shop. The final day of the auction at the shop, which was among the targets of Micheal Paulson's most recent heists, is Saturday.

Paulson, 59, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at Dixon Correctional Institution in Dixon, Ill. Paulson has spent decades under police radar but said his most recent burglaries were done for love: the former Lake Villa resident was about to head to prison back in 2013 for an unrelated attempted burglary when he broke into Harbor Coin looking for collectible coins so he could build a nest egg for his wife, according to media reports.

While investigating the two Harbor Coin burglaries in early 2013, authorities found $300,000 worth of collectible coins and jewelry, which Paulson stole from homes and businesses in northern Illinois in 2012 and 2013, in his Lake Villa home, the Daily Herald reports. Police spent years trying to return the items to their rightful owners.

Last fall, the Gurnee Police Department received state approval to auction off 500 unclaimed items at a special silent auction, the Daily Herald reports.

That auction got underway at Harbor Coin shop on Feb. 27 and wraps up at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 18. The Gurnee Police Department will get to keep the proceeds from the auction, which could be as much as $115,000 after expenses, according to the Daily Herald.

The Gurnee Police Department will be on site at the auction on Saturday as Harbor Coin is expected to have a large crowd for the final day of bidding.

Prolific Burglar

Paulson got his start in crime at the age of 13 when he began stealing cars and then, just a few short years later, set a tavern on fire that his neighbors complained was a nuisance, the Chicago Tribune reports. He also stole the bar's safe and brought the safe back to his garage where he cracked it open.

For four decades, he would hone his skills at cracking safes. Detectives said many smash and grab burglars will take safes to a different location to break them open but Paulson would drill, pry and smash open the safes right at the scene of the crime, according to the Chicago Tribune.

It was that signature move that prompted retired Chicago police officer's Tony DeLeonardis' to call police with a tip after reading a 2011 newspaper article about a heist at a Quiznos sandwich shop in Barrington.

"There's only one guy who could have cracked that safe," he told police. "Your guy is Michael Paulson. That was his signature."

The Barrington cop was unable to pin the crime on Paulson at the time but called Gurnee Police after the Harbor Coin burglaries since the "safecracking" in the heist matched Paulson's style, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Authorities monitored Paulson's phone calls while in prison and were able to obtain search warrants for his homes after hearing he and his wife talk about gold and silver prices and knowing when to liquidate stolen goods, the Daily Herald reports.

Searches of the couple's Villa Park home and a Franklin Park storage unit was traced back to other burglariesin Round Lake Beach, Tinley Park and Elk Grove Village, according to the Chicago Tribune. He pleaded guilty to the Harbor Coin burglaries and received his current prison sentence in 2015.

"It's a sense of relief that he was caught and he is behind bars, and that we can auction some of the items that he has stolen from various places," Harbor Coin's Andrew Timmons told the Daily Herald. "And we just feel like it's going to be a good thing for the Gurnee Police Department."

If You Go

For those interested in bidding at the Harbor Coin auction before bids close on Saturday afternoon, the local business provides rules on its website on what you need to know before you go.

More via the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune

Photo caption: (Left) Michael Paulson (Right): A Pine Tree Shilling, a rare coin, up for auction at Harbor Coin. Photo credit: Michael Paulson photo via Illinois Department of Corrections website/Coin photo via Harbor Coin Facebook page