Saint Xavier Football Player Charged With Burglary

Caption: Jonathan Gilbreth, 20, of Chicago Ridge, a walk-on player for the Saint Xavier University football team, was charged with one felony count of burglary.

A walk-on Saint Xavier University football player and criminal justice major was arrested after he broke into an Oak Lawn tobacco products store, prosecutors said during court on Friday.

Jonathan R. Gilbreth, 20, of the 10300 block of South Austin Avenue, Chicago Ridge, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice where he was charged with one felony count of burglary.

Police responded to a security alarm around 3:10 a.m. Friday at Tobacco City, 10304 S. Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn. When officers arrived, they saw a man, later identified as Gilbreth, running from the area behind the business, according to a police news release.

Gilbreth was taken into custody after a brief foot chase that ended in a nearby backyard. Police said they found Gilbreth in possession of tobacco products that he had taken during the burglary.

A witness near the scene also positively identified Gilbreth as the person they observed hitting the glass door to the business just prior to the alarm, police said.

Gilbreth appears on the 2014 roster of the Saint Xavier University Cougars football team. His team bio lists him as a freshman-year wide receiver majoring in criminal justice, at the university’s Mt. Greenwood campus in Chicago.

Saint Xavier’s head football coach, Mike Feminis, said that Gilbreth was a walk-on player during the fall of 2014.

“He is not a current member of our football team at SXU. Jon was a student at SXU since I believe 2013 and asked me if he could walk-on to the team for fall of 2014,” Feminis said. “Jon was in the team picture and media guide but quit the team for personal reasons before our first game last year. It’s a very unfortunate situation and I wish Jon all the best.”

During Friday’s bond hearing, the public defender filed an order to photograph injuries which Gilbreth claimed he suffered during his arrest by Oak Lawn police.

“You can take as many photos as you want,” Judge Felice said.

Deputy Chief Randy Palmer, of the Oak Lawn Police Department, told Patch that Gilbreth did receive medical treatment at the time of his arrest but it was for injuries he suffered breaking into the store.

Gilbreth was given a $30,000 I-bond and put on home monitoring, with a 7 p.m. curfew. He is also subjected to random urine drops.

“You did a wonderful job on your mother,” Judge Felice told Gilbreth. “She’s in court crying her eyes out.”

This story has been updated with new information.