IL. 18 Year old burgarlized my business (car dealership). Stole a $7000 vehicle, all the phones, computers, and even the staplers. He was caught yesterday in the vehicle with a 16 year old accomplice. I've spent the whole day yesterday at a Chicago Police station making sure I did everything right. Since this is a first - I'm utterly confused and dont know what to do.
Here are the details: The thief in question is someone who used to come in to my business, protray himself as a cop and ask about my camera system. We never gave him any info but he managed to rob us twice (they found computers and stolen equipment from both burglary instances in his parents house). The issue is that the CPD did not think I was going to press charges since the thief offered back most of my equipment and vehicle (all in wrecked and salvage condititon). When they showed me his face I was shocked and decided to press charges becuase he had been coming around for more then a year acting like a cop.
The juvenile (16 yr old accomplice) is apparently getting off with criminal trespassing ( the officers at the CPD are very unclear on all of this). And the 18 year old cop imposter has confessed to one burglary and to stealing the vehicle. When I left the jail last night he was naming other people in his gang who were invloved.
My question:
1.) Yesterday at least six officers asked me in a suprised tone if I wanted to press charges. I said yes. Thier tone is throwing me off. Am I not supposed to file charges? And if I dont file charges does that mean they just walk away?
2.) A detective told me if I didnt show up in court they would get off. The thieves have already seen me thru thier jail cell and know who I am, but will I be putting myself in further danger by showing up in court and making sure they go to jail?
3.) How long can they be locked up for? In my view the CPD didnt really want to do any of this but at my behest are going thru with this and because of that they have been able to find more info. They seem disinterested at the most. Since I dont know what type of charges they are pushing forward, and have a distinct feeling they are bargaining with the perps is it possible the perps will be let out a lot sooner then I'm hoping for?
4.) Finally, my main question. Our only motivation for pressing charges is to protect our business. We will not be getting anything other then peace of mind for (2 to 5) years. We've already bit the bullet for the loss. Should we not go after these guys and let them slide thru the system with the minimum punishment whatever that may be?
Here are the details: The thief in question is someone who used to come in to my business, protray himself as a cop and ask about my camera system. We never gave him any info but he managed to rob us twice (they found computers and stolen equipment from both burglary instances in his parents house). The issue is that the CPD did not think I was going to press charges since the thief offered back most of my equipment and vehicle (all in wrecked and salvage condititon). When they showed me his face I was shocked and decided to press charges becuase he had been coming around for more then a year acting like a cop.
The juvenile (16 yr old accomplice) is apparently getting off with criminal trespassing ( the officers at the CPD are very unclear on all of this). And the 18 year old cop imposter has confessed to one burglary and to stealing the vehicle. When I left the jail last night he was naming other people in his gang who were invloved.
My question:
1.) Yesterday at least six officers asked me in a suprised tone if I wanted to press charges. I said yes. Thier tone is throwing me off. Am I not supposed to file charges? And if I dont file charges does that mean they just walk away?
2.) A detective told me if I didnt show up in court they would get off. The thieves have already seen me thru thier jail cell and know who I am, but will I be putting myself in further danger by showing up in court and making sure they go to jail?
3.) How long can they be locked up for? In my view the CPD didnt really want to do any of this but at my behest are going thru with this and because of that they have been able to find more info. They seem disinterested at the most. Since I dont know what type of charges they are pushing forward, and have a distinct feeling they are bargaining with the perps is it possible the perps will be let out a lot sooner then I'm hoping for?
4.) Finally, my main question. Our only motivation for pressing charges is to protect our business. We will not be getting anything other then peace of mind for (2 to 5) years. We've already bit the bullet for the loss. Should we not go after these guys and let them slide thru the system with the minimum punishment whatever that may be?