Belleville Man Continues To Steal Women's Socks

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jul 9, 2008 8:37PM

It is weird dudes day here at Chicagoist--don't spank it on the El, don't take upskirt shots at streetfests, and seriously, don't break into people's homes to steal women's socks.

James Dowdy, 36 of Belleville, has already been to prison three times for burglary, but he's never hurt anyone, nor has he taken anything other than socks. His mother wants the court to sentence him to live-in psychiatric treatment. "I'd like for somebody to look at him as a human being and not a monster," she said. "He's not a bad kid, he's really not. He just has a problem."

Back in 1994, when Dowdy was first sentenced for attempted burglary (and was caught with "a bag of socks"), he told the judge "I know what I did was wrong. And the thing with the socks, I would like to get help with it so I can get over it, get it out of my life and get on with my life." [AP]