The felony arrest of an illegal immigrant in Chicago on May 15 has marked his 10th police apprehension in the past 10 months.
Carlos Mavarez Viloria had been living in the Standard Club migrant shelter for the last year, yet following his altercation with a police officer in mid-May he will now be staying in Cook County jail, CWBChicago reported Monday.
Viloria was first arrested on July 12 of 2023 when he was caught stealing close to $200 worth of Major League Baseball merchandise at a local Walmart.
When he failed to appear in court the following month, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He was brought in the next day for shoplifting another $158 worth of T-shirts at Macy's.
He received seven days incarceration for the initial crime, but prosecutors dropped the charges. Only a few months later on Nov. 24, he was arrested once more for shoplifting and again prosecutors dropped the charges.
In February of 2024, Viloria racked up arrests five and six when he shoplifted a second time from Walmart and again failed to show up to court for his hearing. Later in February, Viloria was arrested for pulling a weapon of some kind on a convenience store clerk where he reportedly told the employee, “I’ll shoot you.”
The migrant was found later that day at a different 7-Eleven carrying a gun-shaped cigarette lighter. Prosecutors dropped the case a month later.
On April 12, Chicago police reportedly tazed Viloria after he fled arrest for attempting to steal malt liquor and one week later was arrested for illegally entering a local Walgreens. His ninth arrest came shortly thereafter when he was picked up for selling clothes without a permit. “I bought the clothes from another person, and I’m selling it to make money for my kids,” he allegedly told the officers. Prosecutors dropped the case the next day.
For Viloria’s 10th arrest, in which an officer was injured, Judge Ankur Srivastava has reportedly permitted his release under the condition of electronic monitoring, although as of press time that has not happened.
Chicago has become an epicenter of America’s migrant crisis since Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, began busing thousands of illegal border crossers into northern states to share the burden with Democrat governors. The large amount of state and city dollars that has been allocated to migrants has caused tension in Chicago’s Black community who are feeling the pinch of limited social services dollars.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.