Kanela Chef, The Hero That Wicker Park Needs, Nabs Alleged Thief

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 27, 2016 5:39PM

Photo via Google Streetview

Don Penza does not wear a cape to our knowledge, but he was the Batman of Wicker Park on Sunday afternoon. Penza, the executive chef at Kanela Breakfast Club, allegedly chased down and apprehended a man who tried to break into one of Penza's employees' cars.

"I had a few things I wanted to ask the guy," Penza explained to Chicagoist—so he chased the man for about a block and half, and said he "was able to get him to the ground."

"He didn't really resist much," Penza said. Asked whether he worried the man might be armed, Penza said, "I guess we would have crossed that bridge when we got there."

The man, 21-year-old Armad Jones, was arrested in the 1400 Block of North Milwaukee Ave., and charged with one count of felony burglary, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Armad Jones, 21 (photo via Chicago Police Department)

Penza said he first noticed Jones around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday. (Police confirm that, roughly; Jones was arrested at 3:50 p.m.) Penza was returning to Kanela's Wicker Park location (1408 N Milwaukee Ave.) and had pulled up behind the restaurant to park under the El tracks. He was sitting in his car with the engine running, likely finishing up a phone call, when Jones caught his eye.

Penza noticed Jones because he was "lingering," Penza said. "People walking through the alley... they walk," he explained. "Nobody wants to be in an alley." Jones was taking his time though, and walking very close to the parked cars, peering in their windows.

Ultimately, "he was brazen enough" to try the door to a car Penza knew belonged to one of his employees, which was open. (Penza advises all his Wicker Park employees who park under the train tracks to keep their valuables with them, and leave their doors unlocked. If they don't, Penza explained, thieves have been known to break car windows while the train is running overhead and no one can hear the glass shatter.)

Penza said he got out of his car and confronted Jones, saying something along the lines of "What are you doing?" According to police records, Penza called 911 while confronting Jones, who fled on foot.

Once Penza had apprehended Jones, he said a Wicker Park tattoo artist helped him handcuff the man. The artist, who WGN identified as Brian Dickie of Metamorph Tattoo Studios, works as a bouncer at night, and has a license to carry and use handcuffs.

Penza doesn't think this incident indicates that crime is on the uptick in Wicker Park, though. "[Crime] is everywhere," he said. "It's Chicago. It doesn't matter what neighborhood you live in."