Shorewood's Hot Corner: Alleged Panhandler Hits Trifecta

Business must be brisk at the Route 52 exit ramp of Interstate 55 — why else would Spiro Logothetis keep coming back there to get arrested on panhandling charges?

Logothetis, 53, racked up his third such arrest in less than two months on Thursday, all at the I-55 junction on Route 52.

"He just likes that spot — I don't know," said Shorewood Police Chief Aaron Klima.

Logothetis was only arrested one time on Thursday, but back in September he was collared twice within two hours at Route 52 and I-55.

After his most recent arrest, Logothetis gave police the address of MorningStar Mission in Joliet as his residence. He apparently bicycles from the east side shelter all the way to the I-55 exit ramp six or so miles away.

On Thursday, Klima said, Logothetis and another man began panhandling about 3 p.m. in spite of a seat belt enforcement police checkpoint setting up nearby.

The  were using marked squad cars as part of the checkpoint detail, but also had an undercover officer posing as a panhandler and holding a sign reading, "Tibet," the chief said.

The undercover assignment stemmed from previous complaints of vagrancy and panhandling in the area, he explained.

The police presence did nothing to put off Logothetis and his unidentified partner, Klima said, but when officers approached them, the other man took off running and escaped capture.

Logothetis, however, got caught, again.

After he was processed and released with a court date, Logothetis returned to the corner to retrieve his bicycle, Klima said, but this time departed without resuming his illicit scrounging from motorists.

While Logothetis is allegedly persistent when it comes to panhandling in the face of the law, he is cooperative when he taken into custody, Klima said.

"The guys have brought him coffee before," the chief said. "They try to be nice to him."