Man accused in Lincolnshire theft wants personal items returned
The attorney for a Bartlett man accused of stealing more than $100,000 in computer equipment from Walgreen Co. told a Lake County judge that police confiscated more items than they should have during the man’s arrest in February.
Attorney Michael Salvi said police officers took Richard Pickard’s social security card, $24,000 in emergency cash, an I-phone and a Hewlett-Packard laptop computer during a search of his home Feb. 14. Salvi said those items were never part of the theft charges involving Pickard, and the items should be returned to him.
“They don’t have the right to come into someone’s home and just start taking things,” Salvi said. “They are limited to confiscating only the contraband that was allegedly taken in the alleged crime.”
However, Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Stanton said those items are part of the complete theft case, and they should be submitted into evidence.
“We are not saying the money should be forfeited or anything at this point. We just believe it should be admitted into evidence,” Stanton argued in front of Judge Raymond Collins early Wednesday.
Pickard, 46, of the 500 block of Versailles Lane, was charged with theft over $100,000, aggravated computer tampering and computer fraud after police said he stole computer components from the Walgreen Co.’s corporate information technology office at 2 Overlook Point in Lincolnshire.
Pickard remains free from jail after posting the required 10 percent of his $100,000 bond.
Police say Pickard took a computer server and other computer parts while working as a subcontractor for the company, not as an official employee.
Among the items allegedly taken was a system that operated the phones at 75 Chicago-area Walgreen locations.
Police investigators said Pickard admitted to the theft and allowed investigators to search his Bartlett home, which is where the confiscations took place.
Salvi said it’s a violation of Pickard’s rights for the state to take anything unless it is specifically to prove a theft.
“The state can’t go in and just take people’s property,” he said.
The two sides will continue arguing the point March 22.