Parolee Tries To Blend in With Carnival Goers After Swiping Cologne: Prosecutor

Shawn Green, 34 | Cook County Sheriff

Orland Park police apprehended a shoplifter who tried to blend in with carnival goers after he swiped two bottles of men's cologne and ran out of a store, prosecutors said Wednesday in court.

Shawn Green, 34, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a felony retail theft charge.
According to the charges, around 1:14 p.m. June 21, Green was spotted stashing two bottles of men’s cologne into a pink bag he was carrying at J.C. Penney, 3 Orland Square Drive.

Green left the store, pursued by store security and ignoring their orders to stop, the prosecutor said.
He allegedly went to a lower level parking lot where he tried to blend in people attending a carnival. The prosecutor said Green tossed the cologne before being apprehended by Orland Park police.

Police said that Green provided a written statement to police admitting to the theft. Green is currently out on parole on an eight-year sentence stemming from a burglary conviction in 2010, the prosecutor said.
Before the bond hearing started, Green told the judge he wanted to make a statement after being advised not to by Judge Felice and the assistant public defender.

“I’ve been out of prison for 18 months,” Green said. “I had to go to Indiana to get a really good job at a car dealership. We serve our time. I paid my debt to society. Don’t judge me on my past.”

“Unfortunately, I have to consider your past when setting bail,” Judge Felice said.

Green has past felony convictions for residential burglary, criminal damage to property and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in 2008, for which he served time in the Illinois Department of Corrections, the prosecutor said.

“He has a horrific background complicated by his alleged attempt to evade arrest,” Judge Felice said before setting bail at $150,000.

Green said he had spoken to his parole officer and he did not expect to be called back to prison. His next court hearing is July 13 in Bridgeview.