Two men and two women entered the Bentley Gold Coast luxury car dealership Saturday looking to steal high-end watches from a boutique inside the Near North Side building, prosecutors say, and left minutes later with seven of them, worth more than a combined $400,000.
But their time was running out.
Within days, Chicago police were tracking down an anonymous tip about a BMW involved in the theft when the car passed them near the Streeterville address to which it was registered. Officers pulled it over and arrested two men, according to prosecutors. They found a piece of mail with a home address that led them to two women, according to an arrest report.
Burglary and theft charges were filed against the four: Anna Straus, 35, of the 3400 block of North Rutherford Avenue; Glowacka Xagniezska, 36, of the 3400 block of North Rutherford Avenue; Damian Duitlow, 41, of the 4200 block of West Wrightwood Avenue; and Ian Kowolski, 50, whose address wasn’t listed.
A fifth person, Andrzej Debinski, 31, of the 3600 block of North Sayre Avenue, was charged with one felony count of possessing a fraudulent identification card in connection with the theft, police said.
Cook County prosecutors said the four entered a watch-and-jewelry boutique called B. Young and Co. inside the Bentley store about 12:15 p.m. Saturday. The two women acted as lookouts as the two men pried the top off a display case, they said.
Kowolski reached inside, grabbed seven luxury watches worth an estimated $408,400 combined and stuffed them in his pockets before fleeing with the others, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Erin Antonietti.
Kowolski’s fingerprints were found on the display case, according to Antonietti, and surveillance video captured the faces of all four suspects. The women changed the color of their hair after the brazen heist, authorities said.
In court Thursday, a police officer testified that Straus was at Northwestern Memorial Hospital because she was pregnant and Thursday was her due date. Judge Donald Panarese Jr. set bail for the four at $100,000 each. He ordered Debinski released on electronic monitoring.
At least three of the defendants had previously been deported, Antonietti said.
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