Brookfield Woman Nabbed on Fifth Retail Theft: Prosecutors

Caption: Lisa Kawell, 32, of Brookfield. | Cook County Sheriff

A Brookfield woman with past convictions for retail theft is facing a new felony charge after she was accused of stealing numerous packs of cigarettes from Walmart.

Prosecutors said that Lisa Kawell, 32, went to Walmart, 9450 Joliet Road, Hodgkins, on June 4, June 5, June 7 and June 12. During each visit, Kawell was captured on surveillance video crawling under the metal security gate and accessing the area behind a sales counter where the cigarettes were kept.

Once behind the counter, prosecutors said that Kawell stuffed a backpack with “multiple packs of cigarettes” before walking out of the store.

According to court records, Kawell served one year in the Illinois Department of Corrections and 16 days in county jail for two retail theft convictions in 2010. She also has retail theft convictions in 2006 and 2007, for which she was handed three- and four-year prison sentences.

Kawell’s bail was set at $100,000. Her next court hearing is July 6.