A man wanted for allegedly stealing from Ace Hardware and Target stores in multiple Lake County towns was arrested Tuesday evening during a traffic stop in Riverwoods.
Christopher Mazurek, 33, of Rolling Meadows, was pulled over by the Riverwoods Police Department at 8:39 p.m. Tuesday near Deerfield Road and Milwaukee Road for improper display of registration and improperly secured load.
Police learned Mazurek had four active arrest warrants for retail theft in Vernon Hills, Wauconda, Grayslake and a town in DuPage County, Riverwoods Police Chief Bruce Dayno said.
The man allegedly committed the retail thefts in Vernon Hills in October 2023, Grayslake in December 2023 and Wauconda in December 2023, court records show.
He also allegedly committed a burglary and retail thefts in a DuPage County town.
Mazurek was arrested at the traffic stop and police allegedly found burglary tools and suspected stolen items in his vehicle.
Mazurek appeared at the Lake County Courthouse on Wednesday for his first appearance hearing in front of Lake County Judge Bolling Haxall.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Shanley-Roberts asked Haxall to order Mazurek to have no contact with any Ace Hardware and Target stores because those were the stores where he allegedly committed the thefts.
Haxall granted the prosecutors’ request.
Mazurek was released with pre-trial conditions because the offenses he was charged with are non-detainable under the SAFE-T Act.
Mazurek was transferred to the DuPage County Jail later on Wednesday, jail records show.
Mazurek is next scheduled to appear in DuPage County Circuit Court on March 4 and Lake County Circuit Court on March 6.